The rules of the United States Judge Mahmoud Khalil can be expelled for his opinions | Mahmoud Khalil

Mahmoud KhalilThe graduate and the Palestinian organizer of Columbia University is suitable for being expelled from the United States, a judge of immigration governed on Friday during a controversial hearing in a remote court in the central Louisiana.

The decision sides with the Trump AdministrationThe statement that a short appointment written by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who stated that the “Current Beliefs or Associations or Associations” of Khalil were against foreign policy interests, is sufficient to remove a permanent legal resident of the United States. The not dated note, the main test presented by the government, did not contain accusations of criminal conduct.

During a busy hearing on Friday afternoon, Khalil’s lawyers made a series of unparalleled topics that attempted to delay both a sentence on his admissibility to the removal and to stop completely. They claimed that the large accusations contained in Rubio’s memo gave them the right to examine it directly.

Khalil has kept prayer pearls as three lawyers for the National Security Department have presented topics for its removal.

Judge Jamee Comans established that Rubio’s determination was “presumptive and sufficient evidence” and that he did not have the power to govern on the concerns for freedom of speech.

“There is no indication that the congress has contemplated an immigration judge or even the attorney general who passed the secretary of state on foreign policy issues,” said Comans.

A supporter was in tears sitting on the crowded public benches while the sentence was delivered.

Following the sentence, Khalil, who had remained silent during the proceedings, asked for permission to speak before the court.

Giving himself directly to the judge, he said: “I would like to mention what you said the last time, that” there is nothing more important for this court than the trial rights and fundamental equity “.

He continued: “Clearly what we witnessed today, none of these principles was present today or in all this process.

“This is exactly why the Trump Administration He sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you have deemed appropriate for me is offered to the hundreds of others who have been here without listening for months. “

Khalil, 30 years old, contributed to leading the pro-Palestinian protests to Columbia last year. Him He was arrested by the immigration and customs officers (Ice) to New York on March 8 and moved to a detention structure in Jena, Louisiana, where he was held for over a month. His case was the first of a series of ice arrests instigated by the Trump administration that aim for pro-Palestinian students and scholars present in the United States on visa or green cards.

The sentence means that Khalil’s removal procedure will continue to go on to Jena, while a separate case that is listened to in federal court in New Jersey examines the legality of his detention and questions about the constitutionality of the statements of the government that can expel people for the speech protected from the first amendment if they are considered negative to the United States foreign policy.

Khalil’s legal team asks the New Jersey judge to free him on bail so that he can get together with his wife, who should give birth to their first child this month.

His lawyers slammed the decision, which according to them seemed to be prepared. “Today, we saw our worst fears take place: Mahmoud was subject to a scarce of the right trial, a flagrant violation of his right to an equitable audition and a weapon of the immigration law to suppress dissent. It is not over and our continuous struggle,” said Marc Van der Hout, Khalil’s immigration lawyer.

“If Mahmoud can be targeted in this way, simply for having talked to the Palestinians and exercising his right constitutionally protected to freedom of speech, this can happen to anyone who does not like the Trump administration. We will continue to work tirelessly until Mahmoud is free and rightly returned home by his family and his community.”

Van der Hout told a federal judge that Khalil will present the appeal after the judge of immigration that ruled him “removable” issues the final written sentence. Van der Hout added that Khalil’s legal team can also pursue a asylum case.

“So nothing will happen quickly in the immigration procedure even if he found it removable for foreign policy reasons,” he said.

During a short prayer, the vigil held out of the detention center on Friday afternoon, an interreligious clergy group read the support messages. A brief statement by Khalil’s wife, Noor AbdallaWhich should give birth this month, he was also delivered in front of journalists.

“Today’s decision seems a devastating blow for our family. No person should be considered” removable “by their home for having talked about the killing of Palestinian families, doctors and journalists”, reads the note.

He continued: “In less than a month, Mahmoud and I will welcome our first child. Until we come together, I will not stop supporting my husband’s safe return.”

The New Jersey judge ordered the government not to remove Khalil while his case takes place at the Federal Court. A hearing in that case is set for Friday later.