By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Columbia University student detained over his pro-Palestinian activism is not a flight risk and should be allowed to return home for the birth of his first child, his lawyers argued in a motion for bail on Saturday.
Mahmoud Khalil - a 30-year-old permanent U.S. resident of Palestinian descent - was arrested a week ago at his university residence. He has not been charged with a crime and is being held in immigration custody in Louisiana. His wife, an American citizen, is due to give birth next month.
The case has become a flashpoint for President Donald Trump’s vow to deport some activists who took part in protests on U.S. college campuses against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the Palestinian militants.
Khalil was a prominent member of the protest movement at Columbia University. His arrest sparked protests this week.
Justice Department lawyers have argued the U.S. government is seeking Khalil’s removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have "serious adverse foreign policy consequences."
The U.S. will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days, Rubio said on Friday.
Under a provision of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, a law passed in 1952, any immigrant may be deported if the secretary of state deems their presence in the country potentially adverse to American foreign policy. Legal experts have said that provision is rarely invoked, and Khalil’s lawyers have said it was not intended to silence dissent.
"His detention unquestionably chills his speech, as the federal government monitors and controls his ability to communicate with the outside world and has complete power over all of the decisions that impact his daily life inside a remote private prison," his lawyers argued in the motion for bail.
They said if released, Khalil would return home to help his wife prepare for the birth of their child and start a job at a human rights organization in New York. He has the support of many current and former classmates, professors, colleagues and friends who are calling for his release, they said.
"There are no allegations that Mr. Khalil is a flight risk or a danger to the community," his lawyers argued. "Mr. Khalil has never been arrested or convicted of a crime."
The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department said on Friday: "Being in the United States as a non-citizen is a privilege, not a right ... Mahmoud won’t be missed."
Since Khalil’s arrest, federal agents have searched two student residences at Columbia University and the Justice Department said on Friday it was looking into what it said were possible violations of terrorism laws during the protests.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also said on Friday that a Columbia student from India, whose visa was revoked on March 5, had left the country herself on March 11.
Noem said a second woman - a Palestinian from the West Bank who took part in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University - was arrested for overstaying her expired student visa, which was terminated in 2022 for lack of attendance.