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U.S. Lodges New Accusations Against Detained Columbia Protest Leader
The story is in Monday morning's print edition, but it has been online since yesterday afternoon.
U.S. Lodges New Accusations Against Detained Columbia Protest Leader
The Trump administration is now accusing the Columbia University graduate and protest leader of having withheld information when he applied for permanent residency status.
Mamhoud Khalil, a leader of pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University, is detained in Louisiana. Bing Guan for The New York Times
By Jonah E. Bromwich
Published March 23, 2025
Updated March 24, 2025, 7:59 a.m. ET
When Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead pro-Palestinian demonstrations while a Columbia University student, was detained this month, the Trump administration argued he should be deported to help prevent the spread of antisemitism, invoking a rarely used law. ... Lawyers for Mr. Khalil, a legal permanent resident who is being detained in Louisiana, quickly responded that the administration was retaliating against their client for his constitutionally protected speech criticizing Israel and promoting Palestinian rights.
Last week, the government quietly added new accusations to its case against Mr. Khalil, saying that he had willfully failed to disclose his membership in several organizations, including a United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees, when he applied to become a permanent U.S. resident last March. It said he also failed to disclose work he did for the British government after 2022. ... The Trump administration appears to be using the new allegations in part to sidestep the First Amendment issues raised by Mr. Khalil’s case. On Sunday, in a filing opposing his release, Justice Department lawyers argued that the new allegations reduced the importance of concerns about Mr. Khalil’s right to free speech.
“Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring,” they wrote. Given the new allegations, they added, there was an “independent basis” for his deportation. ... “The new deportation grounds are patently weak and pretextual,” said one of Mr. Khalil’s lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, a co-director of CLEAR, a legal clinic at the City University of New York. “That the government scrambled to add them at the 11th hour only highlights how its motivation from the start was to retaliate against Mr. Khalil for his protected speech in support of Palestinian rights and lives.”
Mr. Khalil’s lawyers are fighting for his release in a New Jersey federal court. His wife, an American citizen who lives in New York City, is expected to give birth next month. ... The new allegations, listed in a document from the Homeland Security Department, include that Mr. Khalil did not disclose his work with the U.N. agency or Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student groups that set off pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school. Mr. Khalil earned a master’s degree from Columbia in December.
{snip}
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region, with a focus on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area's federal and state courts. More about Jonah E. Bromwich
A version of this article appears in print on March 24, 2025, Section A, Page 13 of the New York edition with the headline: Detained Columbia Activist Facing New Claims by U.S.. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
The Trump administration is now accusing the Columbia University graduate and protest leader of having withheld information when he applied for permanent residency status.
Mamhoud Khalil, a leader of pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University, is detained in Louisiana. Bing Guan for The New York Times
By Jonah E. Bromwich
Published March 23, 2025
Updated March 24, 2025, 7:59 a.m. ET
When Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead pro-Palestinian demonstrations while a Columbia University student, was detained this month, the Trump administration argued he should be deported to help prevent the spread of antisemitism, invoking a rarely used law. ... Lawyers for Mr. Khalil, a legal permanent resident who is being detained in Louisiana, quickly responded that the administration was retaliating against their client for his constitutionally protected speech criticizing Israel and promoting Palestinian rights.
Last week, the government quietly added new accusations to its case against Mr. Khalil, saying that he had willfully failed to disclose his membership in several organizations, including a United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees, when he applied to become a permanent U.S. resident last March. It said he also failed to disclose work he did for the British government after 2022. ... The Trump administration appears to be using the new allegations in part to sidestep the First Amendment issues raised by Mr. Khalil’s case. On Sunday, in a filing opposing his release, Justice Department lawyers argued that the new allegations reduced the importance of concerns about Mr. Khalil’s right to free speech.
“Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring,” they wrote. Given the new allegations, they added, there was an “independent basis” for his deportation. ... “The new deportation grounds are patently weak and pretextual,” said one of Mr. Khalil’s lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, a co-director of CLEAR, a legal clinic at the City University of New York. “That the government scrambled to add them at the 11th hour only highlights how its motivation from the start was to retaliate against Mr. Khalil for his protected speech in support of Palestinian rights and lives.”
Mr. Khalil’s lawyers are fighting for his release in a New Jersey federal court. His wife, an American citizen who lives in New York City, is expected to give birth next month. ... The new allegations, listed in a document from the Homeland Security Department, include that Mr. Khalil did not disclose his work with the U.N. agency or Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student groups that set off pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school. Mr. Khalil earned a master’s degree from Columbia in December.
{snip}
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region, with a focus on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area's federal and state courts. More about Jonah E. Bromwich
A version of this article appears in print on March 24, 2025, Section A, Page 13 of the New York edition with the headline: Detained Columbia Activist Facing New Claims by U.S.. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe