The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the recognition by a federal judge that the portion of an immigration law used by the Trump administration to detain Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional.
Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and permanent resident, is “likely to win on the merits” of his arguments against the federal government’s assertion that he poses a threat to the administration’s foreign policy goal of combating antisemitism, Judge Michael Farbiarz of the Federal District Court in New Jersey wrote. The administration’s use of that law appears to be “unconstitutionally vague as applied” to Khalil, he said.
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We welcome the court’s recognition of what we all knew to be true – that the justification provided by the government to detain Mahmoud Khalil runs contrary to the Constitution. Mr. Khalil has done nothing but exercise his First Amendment rights to oppose a genocide. We urge the court to order his immediate release.”
He noted that CAIR previously condemned the detention of Mahmoud Khalil.
CAIR also filed suit against Columbia University on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com