Judge halts effort to deport Columbia protest leader, sets Wednesday hearing

A federal judge on Monday scheduled a Wednesday court hearing for Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), forbidding the government from moving forward with deportation efforts before then.

Lawyers for Khalil, a green card holder and leading pro-Palestinian demonstrator whose arrest was cheered by President Trump, have also filed a motion seeking his return to New York.

"To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise," U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman, an appointee of former President Obama, said in his order.

Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer, said in a statement to The Hill that it hadn't been immediately clear where ICE took Khalil. His team had originally thought he was New Jersey, but reports, including from The New York Times, indicated he had been taken to Louisiana.

Trump and his administration celebrated Khalil's detention Monday and said more foreign students that were involved in the pro-Palestinian protests will be arrested.

“ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” the president said on social media.

Since Khalil holds a green card, only an immigration judge would be able to revoke his status.

Thousands of people have signed a petition for his release, and First Amendment advocates suspect his detention is unconstitutional, although few details are known for why Khalil was targeted besides his involvement in Columbia’s protest.

Khalil is reportedly married to a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant.

Updated at 6:17 p.m. EDT

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