Trump admin's evidence against Mahmoud Khalil focuses on "antisemitic" beliefs
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Demonstrators hold a rally and march Saturday to the national ICE headquarters in Washington to protest the arrest of activists including Mahmoud Khalil. Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security offered a brief two-page memo as its evidence in the case against Columbia University alumnus Mahmoud Khalil ahead of Friday's hearing that will likely decide if the detained legal permanent resident is deported from the U.S.
The big picture: The memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaned heavily on the U.S.' right to remove noncitizens whose presence in the country would "compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest."
- The memo obtained by Axios does not allege criminal conduct by Khalil and he has not been charged with any crime.
- At the time of Khalil's arrest, ICE informed him that his student visa was revoked, and upon learning he was a legal resident, they revoked his green card instead, his attorney told Axios after his arrest.
Driving the news: In the memo, Rubio wrote that allowing Khalil to remain in the country would "undermine U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States."
- Khalil could be expelled for his participation and roles in "anti-Semitic protests and disruptive activities," Rubio's letter states.
- The memo echoes similar arguments the government has made in other legal filings for the case. They've also said Khalil had failed to disclose a job with the British Embassy in Lebanon and his membership with a United Nations agency helping Palestinian refugees on his green card application.
Several Trump administration officials have made allegations regarding Khalil's behavior while at Columbia, but not provided any evidence for the claims.
- A White House official said that the Department of Homeland Security had been investigating Khalil prior to his arrest and found he was actively, but not materially, supporting Hamas.
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month that Khalil had "harassed Jewish-American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus" and "distributed pro-Hamas propaganda, flyers with the logo of Hamas."
The other side: Khalil's attorneys argue that the government has provided no analysis or evidence that show their client is a threat to national security.
- "Whether the government can act in violation of the Constitution to deport someone is front and center, and our position is that it cannot," Khalil's attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, said during a press briefing Thursday.
- His legal team said they plan to contest the evidence provided by the government and to ask to depose Rubio.
- Khalil is being held in Louisiana and his lawyers are seeking his immediate release, arguing his detention is in violation of the First Amendment.
Go deeper: DOJ alleges key omissions on Mahmoud Khalil's green card application
