New Filings: Government Admits It Had No Warrant for Mahmoud Khalil When Agents Took Him

In filings in the case of Mahmoud Khalil submitted to immigration court yesterday and federal court today, the Trump administration admitted he was taken without any kind of warrant and made new, false claims that Mr. Khalil had refused to cooperate with ICE agents and told them he was going to leave the scene to justify the agents’ actions. The government’s new version of events is contradicted by previous descriptions and video taken by his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, who was eight months pregnant at the time.

Said Marc Van Der Hout of Van Der Hout, LLP, who is representing Mr. Khalil along with his partner Johnny Sinodis, “In DHS' filing in immigration court this week, we learned for the first time that the DHS agents who arrested Mahmoud lied to him: they wrote in their arrest report that the agents told him that they had an arrest warrant, but DHS has now admitted in their filing that that was a lie and that there was no warrant at all at the time of the arrest. The government's admission is astounding, and it is completely outrageous that they tried to assert to the immigration judge – and the world – in their initial filing of the arrest report that there was an arrest warrant when there was none. This is egregious conduct by DHS that should require under the law termination of these proceedings, and we hope that the immigration court will so rule.”

The filings were made in response to an April 23rd deadline set by the judge in Mr. Khalil’s immigration case in Jena, Louisiana. The judge in his federal case in New Jersey asked for copies of the filings to be submitted to him today.

Mr. Khalil also submitted an application for asylum that is sealed due to the sensitive nature of the information that could affect his safety in the future.

In the federal court, Mr. Khalil’s legal team is continuing to seek bail, an order compelling the government to return him to New Jersey, and a preliminary injunction (PI) that would immediately release him from custody and allow him to reunite with his family in New York while his immigration case proceeds. If granted, the PI would also block President Trump’s policy of arresting and detaining noncitizens who have engaged in First Amendment protected activity in support of Palestinian rights.

On March 8, the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) illegally arrested and detained Mr. Khalil in direct retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University. Shortly after, DHS transferred him 1,400 miles away to a Louisiana detention facility — ripping him away from his wife and legal counsel. His legal team is arguing that his arrest and continued detention violate his constitutional rights, including rights to free speech and due process, and that they go beyond the government’s legal authority.

ICE denied Mr. Khalil’s request to be at his wife’s side as she went into labor this past weekend, causing him to miss the birth of their son on Monday, April 21.

Mr. Khalil is represented by Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the ACLU of New Jersey.

The following are quotes from the rest of Mr. Khalil’s legal team:

Ramzi Kassem, Co-Director of CLEAR:
“The government now finally admits what the whole world already saw and knows: that ICE had no warrant to apprehend Mahmoud Khalil. No one should take seriously the government's patent lie, which it offers for the first time many weeks after the fact, that somehow Mahmoud was anything other than compliant when ICE agents unlawfully abducted him under cover of darkness.”

Samah Sisay, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights:
“ICE has admitted it detained Mahmoud illegally and without a warrant– to justify it, they are now flat out lying with an absurd claim that he tried to flee. At every step of the way, the Trump administration has flouted the law.”

Veronica Salama, staff attorney at the NYCLU:
“The Trump administration's latest motion shows that they are steadfast in smearing Mahmound Khalil to justify his horrific and unconstitutional abduction. We have the receipts: Mr. Khalil was taken from his family with no warrant and in clear retaliation for his protected speech. We will continue to fight for Mr. Khalil's freedom, and defend the right to speak freely about Palestinian rights without fear of detention and deportation.”

Sidra Mahfooz, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project:
“We now know why ICE could not show Mahmoud the warrant he repeatedly requested upon his arrest. They did not obtain a warrant. In its efforts to unlawfully arrest, detain, and target Mahmoud and others for exercising their First Amendment rights, this administration has shown an utter disregard for the most basic principles of legal authority.”

Amy Greer, associate attorney at Dratel & Lewis:
“That night, I was on the phone with Mahmoud, Noor, and even the arresting agent. In the face of multiple agents in plain clothes who clearly intended to abduct him, and despite the fact that those agents repeatedly failed to show us a warrant, Mahmoud remained calm and complied with their orders. Today we now know why they never showed Mahmoud that warrant - they didn’t have one. This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States. Our team, and indeed everyone in this nation, should be fighting for Mahmoud’s freedom, and defending our collective rights to advocate for Palestinian human rights, and express opinions generally that do not conform with government policy.”

Amol Sinha, Executive Director of the ACLU-NJ:
“This latest motion from the government further shows it is determined to persecute Mahmoud Khalil by any means necessary. We know the truth: Mr. Khalil remains unlawfully detained in direct retaliation for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. We will continue to defend Mr. Khalil’s freedom in the face of these baseless attacks, and we are confident he will ultimately prevail.”

More information about the case can be found here: https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/khalil-v-trump