Thirty-three Democratic New York state and city lawmakers, led by state senator Jabari Brisport, urged the Trump administration to end removal proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student facing deportation for his anti-Israel activism and accused the administration of influencing the court’s ruling.
The letter, which the lawmakers sent to Markwayne Mullin, U.S. secretary of homeland security, and Todd Blanche, acting U.S. attorney general, states that the deportation proceedings aim to punish Khalil for his “constitutionally protected activities.”
State senators Julia Salazar, Jessica Ramos and Gustavo Rivera, state Assembly member Claire Valdez and New York City Council members Tiffany Caban and Chi Osse and others accuse the Trump administration of “secretly engineered the outcome of Mr. Khalil’s immigration case to make an example of him.”
The group cited a filing by Khalil’s legal team that it says demonstrates that the Board of Immigration Appeals “improperly influenced the lower immigration court’s decision, fast-tracked Mr. Khalil’s proceedings, bypassed the normal channels through which immigration appeals are docketed and adjudicated and ultimately reached a decision in an unheard-of nine days.”
Khalil thanked the 33 lawmakers. “New York has been my home for the last 3.5 years and I’ve been lucky to witness all the great things happening in the city,” he stated.
Khalil’s attorney has pledged to appeal the deportation ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
