Dear Friend,



There is a lot happening related to Mahmoud’s case and the broader campaign to target First Amendment protected activity in support of Palestinian human rights.

In what will assuredly be a key moment when the history is written on this dark period, Columbia University announced last Friday that it had agreed to some of the Trump Administration’s list of extraordinary demands on an institution of higher learning. After cancelling $400 million in federal grants and contracts, the administration issued a set of demands for Columbia, including requiring they place the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa Studies department in academic receivership. It took Columbia 4,000 words to explain how they were caving [[link removed]] instead of calling out the request for what it was—an unprecedented attack on academic freedom. Not only must we not normalize this type of government action, but Columbia’s acquiescence to it is also setting a dangerous precedent where academic institutions are coerced into aligning with specific political agendas under the threat of withholding funds. These repressive, authoritarian tactics represent a direct assault on the fundamental freedoms that underpin our democracy.

This should give all of us pause. For those of us who have always cared about Palestine and will continue to support Palestinian human rights, the objective to shutdown criticism of Israel and America’s support for its genocidal policies in Gaza is familiar. However, we all know it won’t stop there.

As for Mahmoud’s case, over the weekend, the Department of Justice (DOJ) tried to shift the conversation from their persecution of Mahmoud for free speech reasons to justifying their actions [[link removed]] by arguing that he didn’t include certain information in his green card application. Mahmoud’s lawyers have correctly called the allegations pretextual and note that they were added hastily after Mahmoud’s habeas request challenging his unlawful detention was moved to the U.S. District Court of New Jersey to hear claims of First (free speech) and Fifth (due process) Amendment violations.

So, first, the government is claiming they can use a rarely applied provision of the INA that allows the Secretary of State to deport Mahmoud because the continued presence of the recent Columbia grad, whose American wife is about to have their first child, would “have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Now, they are trying to introduce a brand-new reason for their actions after the fact and they would need to convince the immigration judge any of this would have been relevant for his green card application.

A hearing was held Tuesday in the lawsuit filed by Mahmoud and several other students against Columbia University and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce attempting to stop the university from disclosing their protected disciplinary records with the Committee. The judge requested both parties submit additional materials by 5pm this Thursday. The injunction stopping Columbia from sharing the records will remain in place until the court makes a ruling.

Notably, a second Columbia University student and legal permanent resident who took part in pro-Palestinian protests on campus has sued President Trump and other members of the administration to prevent her deportation. This comes after ICE attempted to detain and arrest her because “ her presence in the United States hinders the administration’s foreign policy agenda of halting the spread of antisemitism [[link removed]] .” Sound familiar? As of now, a Federal Judge told the administration to halt efforts to deport the student until the court reviews the case.

Maya

DAY 18 – MAHMOUD KHALIL’S DETENTION

Mahmoud’s wife, Noor Abdalla, appears in her first televised interview on her husband’s arrest

"My husband was taken away from me in the middle of the night," said Noor Abdalla. "It was one of the most terrifying times of my life. I don't think I've ever experienced anything scarier than that."

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Mahmoud and seven other Columbia students were in court attempting to block Columbia from sharing private disciplinary rescords with the House Committee on Education and Workforce

“Khalil and the other plaintiffs, who are all referred to in the lawsuit by pseudonyms, have described the committee’s letter as intended to "chill the protected speech of University’s students."”

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Columbia professors, along with the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, sued the Trump admionistration over their federal cuts and forcing Columbia to tighten rules on student protests and free speech on campus

"This action challenges the Trump administration’s unlawful and unprecedented effort to overpower a university’s academic autonomy and control the thought, association, scholarship, and expression of its faculty and students... The Trump administration is coercing Columbia University to do its bidding and regulate speech and expression on campus by holding hostage billions of dollars in congressionally authorized federal funding - funding that is responsible for positioning the American university system as a global leader in scientific, medical, and technological research and is crucial to ensuring it remains so,” the lawsuit says.

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Yunseo Chung, a 21 year old permanent resident since she was 7 years old, sues to stop her deportation for participating in a pro-Palestine protest

“ICE’s shocking actions against Ms. Chung form part of a larger pattern of attempted U.S. government repression of constitutionally protected protest activity and other forms of speech,” said Chung’s lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan.

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Last Thursday, a federal judge halted the deportation of Georgetown postdoctoral associate and student visa holder, Badar Khan Suri

“This is still the United States of America, and we don’t punish people, we don’t whisk them away and send them 1,000 miles away from their family, based on what they may have said, what they may have posted on social media or who they are related to,” Hassan Ahmad, Suir’s lawyer, said.

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