President Donald Trump has met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, including Mahmoud Khalil, a protest leader from Columbia University who is facing deportation.
The 30-year-old, who is a legal permanent resident of the United States, was released from immigration custody in Louisiana just over a month prior to the visit.
In a video interview with the news agency Reuters, Khalil stated in a statement that he is “here in Washington, DC today to meet with lawmakers and members of Congress to demand accountability from Columbia University and the Trump administration for their retaliation against my speech.
“To be honest, I believe that I have a duty to continue making Palestinian claims.” The Trump administration made an effort to accomplish this. They made an effort to silence me. However, I’m here to assure you that we will continue to resist. We don’t have to back down.
Under the Trump administration, Khalil is still facing deportation because it has relied on a secret provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to deport foreign students who engage in pro-Palestinian advocacy.
The secretary of state has the authority to expel a foreign national under the law if it is determined that their presence in the nation could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” but the criteria for that conclusion are still ambiguous.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, met with him because the Trump administration had 104 days to support his opposition to Netanyahu’s horrific and illegal war in Gaza. abominable
The First Amendment and the right to dissent must not be allowed by Trump. pic. https://twitter.com/iaIi8dUWF
Khalil’s advocacy has been repeatedly refuted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and immigration officials as being anti-Jewish and supportive of Hamas, but they have not provided any supporting evidence.
Mohsen Mahdawi, Rumeysa Ozturk, and Badar Khan Suri, three other students who have been deported by the Trump administration, have argued that their arrests violate the right to free speech, which is constitutionally protected.
In order to let the students leave their custody as their cases move through immigration court, several district judges have concurred.
Khalil, who was detained for the duration of his son’s birth, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this month, alleging obscene charges as well as false arrest and imprisonment. He wants the government to apologise or pay $ 20 million in damages.
Senator Bernie Sanders from the US toured Khalil on Tuesday with lawmakers.
In a post on the social media platform X, Sanders wrote, “We must not allow Trump to obliterate the First Amendment andamp; our right to dissent,” along with a photo of Khalil with him.
Mahmoud Khalil is a kind, gentle soul who cares deeply about the humanity of others, but the Trump Administration has abducted him, detained him, and continues to persecute him.
I’m relieved to see his wife and son, both of whom he is already a parent. Our discussion today was enticing… https://twitter.com/HgWWkTafPw
Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jim McGovern, Troy Carter, and Summer Lee from the Congress also met with Khalil.
In a post on X, Pressley wrote that Mahmoud Khalil is a kind, gentle soul who cares deeply about the humanity of others. His abduction, detention, and ongoing persecution by the Trump Administration are reproachful.
“Our meeting today was productive and fortifying.”
The Department of Homeland Security once more called Khalil a “terrorist sympathiser,” blaming him for his anti-Jewish “hateful behavior and rhetoric” in its own social media message on Tuesday.
Federal Judge Michael Farbiarz, who formally notified Khalil’s family in June, said he had given the administration’s lawyers ample time to back up the accusations made in public. He claimed they omitted to do so.
Source: Aljazeera
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