After the hearing on Tuesday, Khalil told supporters outside the courtroom in Philadelphia that his case is proving to be a “test for everyone’s rights” and that the US government is deporting him due to his activism at Columbia University last year.
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He claimed that there is “no immediate risk” that he would be taken back into custody.
No one should be prevented from speaking out for the rights of immigrants all over the world, Khalil said.
Government lawyers are suing a three-judge panel on the court of appeals to overturn the release’s order, alleging that the New Jersey court with jurisdiction was unable to hear the case.
Khalil, who is a legal permanent resident, is the first prominent Palestinian rights activist to be detained and whose immigration status has been challenged due to his activism on campus.
The activists’ claims that the president’s administration targeted hundreds of students for deportation were denied by the activists, who claim they supported “terrorism” and spread anti-Semitism.
The Trump administration has been using an immigration law provision to legalize the crackdown to deport non-citizens whose presence has “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the US.
At a virtual briefing on Tuesday, Bobby Hodgson, assistant legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), described the government’s claim that it has broad deportation authority on foreign policy grounds as “wrong” and “unconstitutional.”
“What our arguments really boil down to is that ideas are not illegal in the United States, and the government cannot use a hazy immigration law to confine people to holding opinions that they disagree with,” Hodgson said.
Khalil was detained by immigration authorities in Louisiana in March, and he was unable to give birth to his first child.
His immigration case was not settled until the court’s decision in June to release him. His detention was challenged by a legal proceeding known as habeas corpus.
The immigration system is currently running a separate deportation case.
In order to bolster the deportation case, the US government has also accused Khalil of feigning to mention UNRWA in his visa and Green Card applications.
A judge upholding the government’s request to remove Khalil from the country last month.
Immigration judges don’t represent independent courts like the constitutional judicial system do in the executive branch.
The Board of Immigration Appeals is currently hearing an appeal against Khalil’s immigration case.
On constitutional grounds, the board’s decision is likely to be appealed to a circuit court, which is a component of the traditional judicial system.
The legal saga is unlikely to come to an end with the immigration case and the habeas corpus petition facing both sides’ appeals.
However, for the time being, Khalil and many others in similar circumstances remain free as a result of district court decisions.
A US judge determined last month in a separate, more serious case that the Trump administration’s crackdown on Palestine solidarity activists was unlawful because it sought to silence Israel’s constitutionally protected free speech rights.
