An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil can be deported on the basis of a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that says he has personally determined Khalil poses “adverse foreign policy consequences” to the US.
Khalil, clean-cut but pale, with ACLU attorney Nora Ahmed at his side, listened as Judge Jamee Comans said the Trump administration’s evidence – which primarily relied on a two-page letter from Rubio – was sufficient to deport him under a rarely used legal provision in immigration law.
“There is no indication that Congress contemplated an immigration judge or even an attorney general overruling the Secretary of State on matters of foreign policy,” said Judge Comans as she made her ruling. One supporter in the courtroom began to cry as the judge announced her decision. ….more