Government says it won't release Mahmoud Khalil despite judge's order

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NBC News

U.S. NEWS
Government says it won't release Mahmoud Khalil despite judge's order

A judge ruled earlier this week that the foreign policy grounds for Khalil's detention are insufficient and likely unconstitutional.


Mahmoud Khalil at a pro-Palestinian protest on the Columbia University campus in New York in 2024. Ted Shaffrey / AP file

June 13, 2025, 2:26 PM EDT
By Kimmy Yam

The Trump administration does not plan on releasing pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil despite a federal judge's ruling this week that he cannot be deported or detained based on a determination from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he is a threat to national security.

In a letter filed on Friday afternoon, officials from the Department of Justice argued that while Khalil can't be detained based on Rubio's determination, according to the judge's ruling, he can be detained for other reasons. The officials cited immigration-related statutes. … "The Court instead enjoined Respondents from detaining Khalil 'based on the Secretary of State's determination,'' DOJ officials said in the letter. "That injunction does not interfere with Respondents' authority to detain Khalil on other grounds."

To justify Khalil's removal, Rubio released a memo in April, citing an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. It allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the country would result in "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States." Rubio wrote in the memo that allowing Khalil, who led protests against the war on Gaza, to stay in the U.S. would create a "hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States."

But the judge, Michael Farbiarz of the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, ruled on Wednesday that the foreign policy grounds for Khalil's detention are insufficient and likely unconstitutional. Farbiaz stayed the preliminary injunction until 9:30 a.m. Friday, giving the government time to appeal. And by Friday morning, Khalil's legal team filed a letter, requesting the court to order his release.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/government-wont-release-mahmoud-khalil-rcna212889

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Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

https://www.joemygod.com/2025/06/trump-admin-defies-judge-on-releasing-activist/

[Irish_Dem]

1. I guess that means no one has to follow a judge's orders.

If I get a court order, I am going to tell the judge to take a hike.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. They *are* following the judges order

They are changing the reason for detention to something a court hasn’t ruled on yet.

Judicial whack-a-mole, the favorite pastime of dictatorships around the world.

[Volaris]

9. In other words, theyre gonna waste as much of the courts time as they can,

File a handful of nonsense charges that will (eventually) get thrown out.

These guys all need to file a class action suit against the DOJ and Pam for malicious prosecution, and take every penny that woman will ever earn in her fashy life.

[republianmushroom]

3. The Law and order party, when it suits them.

Most on the time it doesn't suit them to be for law and order. Crooked as a dogs hind leg.

[dchill]

7. Their law, their order.

[republianmushroom]

10. Correct, and as it suits them.

[cstanleytech]

4. The government's attorney's should be held in contempt and thrown into jail until the government complies.

[republianmushroom]

11. Correct,

how many times have we seen that, and the only get another warning in the last 4 years.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Just updated - Judge sided with government (at same OP link now)

Judge allows Trump administration to continue to detain Mahmoud Khalil

[Pinback]

6. "He has not been charged with any crime."

So any immigrant can be detained indefinitely for any reason? Is it fascism yet?

[BumRushDaShow]

8. It seems like the ruling was very narrow

indicating that they can't hold him for the nonsensical Rubio "national security risk" excuse and would need to cite something else (and he gave examples - improperly filling out green card, etc., which I expect might have some statute associated).

I think Khalil's lawyers are arguing that something as "minor" as a green card application issue, etc., has rarely resulted in such a draconian response as "detention".