Nazis enjoy more rights in Trump's US: Mahmoud Khalil's lawyers blast deportation verdict

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Sean Johnson

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Lawyers for Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil blasted the verdict of the Lousiana court that said Khalil can be deported out of the country and said Nazis enjoy more rights in Donald Trump’s US. “Nazis in this country, the Supreme Court has held, are able to demonstrate, are able to express their beliefs – but not Mahmoud Khalil. The Ku Klux Klan is able to march and express its beliefs – but not Mahmoud Khalil,” Khalil’s attorney Marc van der Hout

Judge Jamee Comans ruled on Friday that the government had established by clear and convincing evidence that Khalil is removable. Khalil’s lawyers said they would appeal against the verdict and hence Khalil would not be kicked out of the country immediately.

In its argument for sending Khalil out of the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio filed a two-page memo to the court and said Khalil’s presence undermines US policy to combat antisemitism. The verdict in Khalil’s case was closely followed as several other international students got their visas revoked and then were arrested by ICE. Khalil is, however, a green card holder and a US citizen. His arrest and the threat of deportation showed how the Trump administration would go after even green card holders.

Mahmoud Khalil was born in Syria in a refugee camp. His family fled to Lebanon in 2012. He came to the US in 2022 and got married to Dr Noor Abdallah, a US citizen. Though he came to the US on a student visa, he became a legal permanent resident as he became the spouse of a US citizen. He was involved with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition advocating for divestment from Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Trump administration said Khalil was not only leading pro-Palestine protests but was spreading the agenda of Hamas. He distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, such as flyers with Hamas logos, and supported Hamas’s actions, including the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the administration said.

However, Khalil and his legal team denied any direct support for Hamas, asserting that his activism focuses on Palestinian rights and not Hamas. His lawyers argued that allegations of his Hamas links are based on misrepresentations of his free speech, such as social media posts or protest activities, and no concrete proof, like material support or coordination with Hamas, has been publicly presented by the government.

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