Trump DOJ must defend legal basis for deporting Mahmoud Khalil: Judge

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to provide a full account of the legal basis for its attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student whose case has become a political flashpoint over free speech and immigration enforcement.

Judge Michael Farbiarz of the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, instructed the Trump administration on Wednesday to submit by Thursday morning a list of every known instance where federal officials have invoked what Khalil’s lawyers say is a “rarely used” immigration law being used against Khalil. That statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(C), allows deportation when the secretary of state finds a noncitizen’s presence in the country could harm U.S. foreign policy interests.