1 week ago ‘National disgrace’: US lawmakers decry student detentions on visit to Ice jails

Delegation visits jails where Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk are being held and denounce ‘authoritarian’ TrumpCongressional lawmakers denounced the treatment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, the students being detained by US immigration authorities for their pro-Palestinian activism, as a “national disgrace” during a visit to the two facilities in Louisiana where each are being held.“We stand firm with them in support of free speech,” the Louisiana congressman Troy Carter, who led the delegation, said during a press conference after the visits on Tuesday. “They are frightened, they’re concerned, they want to go home.” Continue reading...

Society

1 week ago Columbia student activist detained by ICE was denied leave for the birth of his son, wife says

Mahmoud Khalil remains inside a Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fights for his removal from the country

Politics

1 week ago Mahmoud Khalil’s wife Noor Abdalla gives birth as Ice denies his request to attend

Palestinian activist, held in Louisiana detention facility, only allowed to call in as wife delivered their first childNoor Abdalla, the wife of detained Columbia university graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, has announced the birth of their son.In a statement released on Monday evening, Abdalla wrote: “I welcomed our son into the world earlier today without Mahmoud by my side. Despite our request for ICE to allow Mahmoud to attend the birth, they denied his temporary release to meet our son. This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago What is a ‘criminal’ immigrant? The word is an American rhetorical trap | Jonathan Ben

Allegations of criminality have always been deployed to justify state violence but even ‘imperfect’ victims deserve basic rightsUS politics live – latest updatesLast month, the Trump administration flew 238 Venezuelan immigrants to a brutal prison in El Salvador. Federal officials alleged that the detainees were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, calling them “heinous monsters” ,“criminal aliens”, “the worst of the worst”. The federal government has also revoked visas for a thousand international students over their alleged participation in protests against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Some were abducted, like Mahmoud Khalil, who has spent more than a month incarcerated in one of the worst jails in the US. Officials alleged that Mahmoud “sided with terrorists who have killed innocent men, women, and children”.Media reports quickly revealed that the Trump administration is lying about “innocent” people to justify abducting them. But this raises a more important question: if Trump...

Events

3 w. ago The case against Mahmoud Khalil is meant to silence American dissent | Moustafa Bayoumi

The open door of American democracy is slamming shut faster and louder than we could have imaginedOn Friday afternoon, a federal immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Mahmoud Khalil, the lawful permanent resident who was arrested last month for his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University, was removable – that is to say, deportable – under the law.Let’s be absolutely clear about how outrageous this decision is. The judge, Jamee Comans, had given the Trump administration a deadline to produce the evidence required to show that Khalil should be deported. In a functional state, such evidence would rise to a standard of extreme criminality necessitating deportation. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Immigration judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can be deported: a timeline of events

An immigration judge has ruled that a Palestinian Columbia University graduate student who participated in protests against Israel can be deported

Events

3 w. ago What to know about activist Mahmoud Khalil and his attorneys' plan to appeal his deportation ruling

An immigration judge has ruled that a Palestinian Columbia University graduate student who participated in protests against Israel can be deported

Politics

3 w. ago I disagree with Mahmoud Khalil’s politics. But the deportation decision is abhorrent | Jo

Expelling the Columbia activist for his views would leave our nation weaker and endanger all of our rightsWhen the federal immigration judge Jamee Comans ruled in favor of allowing the government to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student in the US on a legal visa, her decision was based on “foreign policy concerns” presented by US secretary of state Marco Rubio. It was so shocking that I had to reread the news report several times before I could believe it.Rubio’s claim is based on Khalil’s leadership role in the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. I didn’t agree with Khalil’s politics when he led the protests and I don’t agree today with his politics, nor even his actions during the protests. But I’m unwavering in supporting his right to his views, and his right to shout them in what, until Trump took the reins, was our free American nation.Jo-Ann Mort, who writes and reports frequently about Israel/Palestine is also author of the forthcoming book of poetry, ...

Politics

3 w. ago Judge allows Trump administration to deport Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil over pro

Immigration court judge will allow government to continue removal efforts against green card holder

Politics

3 w. ago Immigration judge rules that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported

A Louisiana immigration judge has ruled that the U.S. can deport Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil based on the federal government’s argument that he poses a national security risk

Events

3 w. ago Mahmoud Khalil can be expelled for his beliefs alone, US government argues

Marco Rubio provides two-page memo to judge who asked government for evidence against Columbia student activistUS politics live – latest updatesFacing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted a brief memo, signed by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages US foreign policy interests.The two-page memo, which was obtained by the Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent US resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs

The U.S. government has submitted a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its main evidence in its deportation case against Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalili

Politics

3 w. ago Immigration judge to rule Friday on possible release of detained Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil

An immigration judge in Louisiana says she will decide later this week whether the government can continue to detain Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests

Events

3 w. ago To my husband, Mahmoud Khalil: I can’t wait to tell our son of his father’s bravery | Noor Abdalla

Your wrongful detention is testament to the fact that you have struck a nerve. They are trying to silence you, but they will fail‘We will persist’: Mahmoud Khalil’s wife says pro-Palestinian voices won’t be silencedExactly a month ago, you were taken from me. This is the longest we have been apart since we got married. I miss you more and more every day and as the days draw us closer to the arrival of our child, I am haunted by the uncertainty that looms over me – the possibility that you might not be there for this monumental moment. Every kick, every cramp, every small flutter I feel inside me serves as an inescapable reminder of the family we’ve dreamed of building together. Yet, I am left to navigate this profound journey alone, while you endure the cruel and unjust confines of a detention center.I could not be more proud of you, Mahmoud. You embody everything I ever hoped for in a partner and the father of my children. What more could I ask for as a role model for our children ...

Politics

4 w. ago Mahmoud Khalil says his arrest was part of ‘Columbia’s repression playbook’

Green-card holder and activist led campus pro-Palestinian rallies and is now fighting Trump effort to deport himMahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student activist who led campus pro-Palestinian rallies and is now resisting the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, has accused the university of laying “the groundwork for my abduction” and called on the student body to continue demonstrations and protests.Khalil, a green-card holder who is in custody in Louisiana as his case moves through the courts, was detained on 8 March. The Trump administration is seeking to deport him under a provision in federal immigration law that permits the state department to deport non-citizens considered to be a threat to US foreign policy. Continue reading...

Events