'It is absolutely unprecedented' - lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil speak following court hearing

Record ID: 1983164

  • Title: 'It is absolutely unprecedented' - lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil speak following court hearing
  • Date: 12th March 2025
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 12, 2025) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS ACROSS STREET FROM COURTHOUSE PROTESTERS HOLDING SIGNS IN SUPPORT OF COLUMBIA STUDENT PROTESTER, MAHMOUD KHALIL PERSON HOLDING SIGN READING (English) “TYRANTS FEAR DISSENT” NYPD (NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT) OFFICERS STANDING IN ROW (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAWYER FOR COLUMBIA STUDENT PROTESTER, MAHMOUD KH
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Columbia University Donald Trump Gaza ICE Israel Mahmoud Khalil NYC court palestinians
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001829612032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A U.S. judge on Wednesday (March 12) ordered that a detained Columbia University student be allowed to have private phone calls with lawyers challenging his arrest by immigration authorities.
    Mahmoud Khalil's case has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration's pledge to deport pro-Palestinian college activists. Khalil's lawyers argue the arrest violated his right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, and have urged his release.
    At a hearing in Manhattan federal court, Khalil's lawyer Ramzi Kassem said his client had been allowed just one call with his legal team from immigration detention in Louisiana. Kassem said the call was cut off prematurely and was on a line recorded and monitored by the government.
    U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that Khalil, 29, and his lawyers should have one phone call today and another one tomorrow covered by attorney-client privilege, meaning the government would not have access to their conversation.
    Furman on Monday (March 10) temporarily blocked Khalil's deportation.
    Furman said the calls would help Khalil's lawyers prepare a revised petition challenging the constitutionality of his arrest on Saturday (March 8) evening by Department of Homeland Security agents outside his university residence in Manhattan.
    Brandon Waterman, a lawyer for the government, said he had not been aware of any issues with Khalil's access to his lawyers but would look into it.
    Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, holding signs reading "Release Mahmoud Khalil" and chanting "Down, down with deportation, up, up with liberation."
    Khalil, who is of Palestinian origin, came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and became a permanent resident last year.
    He became a prominent member of Columbia's protest movement against Israel's military assault on Gaza that followed Hamas' October 2023 attack, which according to Israeli tallies killed 1,200 people. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has since killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
    U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, but his administration has not charged him with a crime and has not provided any evidence to show Khalil's alleged support for the militant group.
    The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, has the authority to order Khalil released from detention if he finds his rights were violated, according to legal experts.
    Even if Khalil is released, deportation proceedings could nonetheless continue in a separate immigration court. Khalil would have the right to appeal an unfavorable ruling, a potentially lengthy process.
    The case could ultimately test where immigration courts draw the line between protected free speech and alleged support for groups the United States calls terrorists.
    (Production: Hussein Al Waaile, Andrew Hofstetter, Justin Nathanson, Roselle Chen, Christine Kiernan)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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