The judge gave the legal team of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil more time to consider immigration cases during Friday's hearing in Louisiana.
Halil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a US citizen, was arrested by immigrants and customs enforcement officers on March 8th. He has not been charged with a crime, but faces the possibility of deportation for alleged support for Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
A judge at the Lasalle Immigration Court in Jena pleaded until April 8, saying that Khalil thinks he “deserves more time” before delaying further cases.
A lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security originally opposed the issue, claiming that Halil was “detained at government costs.” But Halil's lawyer told the judge, “These are serious charges and we need time to review them.”
The video shows the arrest of Colombian anti-Israel ring leader Mahmoud Khalil
Mahmoud Khalil is said to have played a major role in Columbia University's protests against Israel. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)
Halil looked calm through his hearing, which unfolded in a small windowless courtroom. He spoke relatively quietly in his response to the judge and seemed somewhat relaxed. The judge asked him which language he best understood, he said English and Arabic, and when he asked if she could proceed in English, he said yes.
Halil played a major role in the anti-Israel protests in Colombia.
In a letter released by lawyers on Tuesday, Halil characterized his arrest as “indicating anti-Palestinian racism.” He also denounced the Colombian government. This includes former university president Minush Shafik.
“My unfair detention illustrates the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months as the US continued to supply Israel with arms to kill Palestinians and prevented international intervention,” writes Khalil. “For decades, anti-Palestinian racism has encouraged efforts to expand the laws and practices of the United States used to violently oppress Palestinians, Arab Americans and other communities, which is exactly why I am being targeted.”
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Mahmoud Khalil tells his wife to call her lawyer Amy when she is arrested. (Mahmoud Khalil's family)
In one of Halil's first legal victories, a judge on Wednesday ordered him to hear about deportation cases in New Jersey, not in Louisiana, where he is in custody. The judge cited laws requiring lawsuits in the same jurisdiction where Halil's lawyer first filed a lawsuit challenged his detention.
The Trump administration previously said that bedbugs had been invaded at a New Jersey detention facility near Khalil's arrest and that he must be shipped to Louisiana.
Halil, LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana, appeared at the hearing on Friday, March 21st. (Olivianna Calmes/Fox News)
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“I can't stand his illegal and unjust detention. I won't stop fighting until he's home with me,” his wife Noor Abdallah said in a statement released earlier this week by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Alec Schemmel of Fox News contributed to this report.
