NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Mahmoud Khalil in Louisiana until at least next week but can finally speak to lawyers while they fight the Trump administration鈥檚 plans to deport the Columbia University graduate student for his role in campus protests against Israel, a judge decided at a hearing Wednesday.
The brief hearing, which focused on thorny jurisdictional issues, drew hundreds of demonstrators to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan to denounce the Saturday arrest of Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen.
Khalil, 30, was not brought to the hearing from an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup.
After Khalil's Manhattan arrest, Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered Monday that while the court considers a legal challenge brought by his lawyers, who want Khalil returned to New York and released under supervision. For now Furman is letting Khalil remain in Louisiana.
During Wednesday's hearing, attorney Brandon Waterman argued for the Justice Department that the venue for the deportation fight should be moved from New York City to Louisiana or New Jersey because those are the locations where Khalil has been held.
One of Khalil鈥檚 lawyers, Ramzi Kassem, told the judge that Khalil was 鈥渋dentified, targeted and detained鈥� because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights and his protected speech. He said Khalil has no criminal convictions, but 鈥渇or some reason, is being detained.鈥�
Kassem also told Furman that Khalil's legal team hasn't been able to have a single attorney-client-protected phone call with him.
Furman ordered that the lawyers be allowed to speak with him by phone at least once on Wednesday and Thursday. Calling the legal issues 鈥渋mportant and weighty,鈥� the judge also directed the two sides to submit a joint letter on Friday describing when they propose to submit written arguments over the legal issues raised by Khalil鈥檚 detention.
Kassem said Khalil's lawyers would update their lawsuit on Thursday.
Khalil's arrest has sparked protests in New York and other U.S. cities. Actor emerged from the courthouse and told reporters that 鈥渘o matter where you stand on genocide, freedom of speech ... is a right that we all have.鈥� She added: 鈥滱nd this is a turning point in the history and the freedom of this country.鈥�
Some of Khalil's supporters, many of them wearing a keffiyeh and mask, attended the hearing. Hundreds more demonstrated outside the courthouse, beating drums, waving Palestinian flags and chanting for Khalil鈥檚 release. The raucous crowd grew quiet, though, to hear Kassem speak.
鈥淎s we tried to make clear in court today, what happened to Mahmoud Khalil is nothing short of extraordinary and shocking and outrageous,鈥� Kassem told the crowd. "It should outrage anybody who believes that speech should be free in the United States of America.鈥�
Kassem said the legal grounds cited by the government to detain Khalil were 鈥渧ague鈥� and 鈥渞arely used,鈥� masking the true intent: "retaliation and punishment for the exercise of free speech.鈥�
Columbia became the center of a U.S. pro-Palestinian that swept across college campuses nationwide last year and led to more than 2,000 arrests.
Khalil, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, finished his requirements for a Columbia master鈥檚 degree in December. Born in Syria, he is a grandson of Palestinians who were forced to leave their homeland, his lawyers said in a legal filing.
President Donald Trump heralded Khalil鈥檚 arrest as the first 鈥渙f many to come,鈥� vowing on social media to deport students he said engage in 鈥減ro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.鈥�
His Border czar, Tom Homan, said in Albany during a news conference on sanctuary policies that the administration considers Khalil 鈥渁 national security threat.鈥�
鈥淐an you stand in a movie theater and yell fire? Can you slander somebody verbally? Free speech has limitations,鈥� he said Wednesday at the conference with Republican state lawmakers.
During a stopover in Ireland while to a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in Canada, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Khalil's case is 鈥渘ot about free speech.鈥�
"This is about people that don鈥檛 have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card," Rubio said.
Khalil, who acted as a spokesperson for Columbia protesters, hasn't been charged with a crime. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the administration moved to deport him under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives the secretary of state the power to deport a noncitizen on foreign policy grounds.
Civil rights groups and Khalil鈥檚 attorneys say the government is unconstitutionally using its immigration control powers to stop him from speaking out.
U.S. Jewish groups and leaders and organizations have been divided in their response to Khalili鈥檚 detention.
Among those welcoming the move was the Anti-Defamation League, which said it hopes it serves as a 鈥渄eterrent.鈥�
鈥淲e appreciate the Trump Administration鈥檚 broad, bold set of efforts to counter campus antisemitism 鈥� and this action further illustrates that resolve by holding alleged perpetrators responsible for their actions,鈥� the ADL said on social media.
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of Jewish Council for Public Affairs, decried Khalil's detention.
The Trump administration 鈥渋s exploiting real concerns about antisemitism to undercut democracy: from gutting education funding to deporting students to attacking diversity, equity, & inclusion,鈥� she wrote on Bluesky. 鈥淎s we鈥檝e repeatedly said: this makes Jews 鈥� & so many others 鈥� less safe.鈥�
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Associated Press reporters Matthew Lee in Shannon, Ireland, David Collins in Albany and David Crary in New York contributed.
Jake Offenhartz And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
