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‘Unjustifiable’: Trump Administration Responds to Deportations Lawsuit
FILE PHOTO: People walk on the Business School campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., April 15, 2025. Photo: Faith Ninivaggi via Reuters Connect.
The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to deny a preliminary injunction request as part of a lawsuit challenging its attempt to deport pro-Hamas activist and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and three of its local chapters sued the federal government to halt deportation proceedings involving expatriate pro-Hamas activists enrolled in American institutions of higher education, arguing that the allegedly seditious contents of their speech are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Filed in March, the legal complaint came several weeks after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) high-profile arrest and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University alumnus who was an architect of the Hamilton Hall building takeover and other disturbances in the New York City area this semester. Similar action has since been taken against others, including Cornell University graduate student Momodou Taal, a dual citizen of Gambia and the United Kingdom, and Columbia University student Yunseo Chung, a noncitizen legal resident from South Korea.
The AAUP and its chapters at Harvard University, Rutgers University, and New York University, along with the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), argued in court documents that the Trump administration’s “policy has created a climate of repression and fear,” charging that ICE is “terrorizing students and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing political viewpoints that the government disfavors.”
Monday’s filing constitutes the Trump administration’s first challenge to the case.
“Plaintiffs fundamentally misunderstand how the First Amendment applies in this context” government lawyers argued in the pleading. “They conflate the fact that the First Amendment applies at all to aliens, with the First Amendment applying in full to them.”
The government went on to explain that Khalil and other aliens deemed as posing a threat to national security lack complete constitutional protections with which American citizens are endowed by right, noting that past case law has determined that while they are entitled to “freedom of speech and of press,” protections of those freedoms are “less robust.” Responding to the lawsuit’s charge that the deportation of Khalil, and others, is “ideologically motivated” — that is, that the Trump administration aims to purge the country of jihadist supporters — it added that the US Supreme Court ruled in 1951 that the federal government may constitutionally deport aliens who hold seditious beliefs such as communism, as is prescribed by the Alien Registration Act of 1940.
In conclusion, the government argued that pausing the deportation policy would undermine the public interest.
“Plaintiffs seek an injunction that would extend over immigration against all ‘noncitizen students and faculty’ in the country,” the filing says. “That is unjustifiable.”
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, pro-Hamas activists in the US, citizen and noncitizen, have allegedly violated the civil rights of Jewish students, penned extremist manifestos calling for revolutionary violence and overthrowing the government, and contributed to the spread of anti-Western beliefs.
Additionally, pro-Hamas activists have perpetrated gang assaults, threatened to commit mass murders of Jewish college students, and vandalized private property, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Recently, a lawsuit, first reported by the The Free Press, alleged that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the principal organizer of pro-Hamas activities on US campuses, received advanced knowledge of the Oct. 7 atrocities, suggesting a level of coordination between US-based anti-Zionists and jihadist terrorist groups that could pose a danger to national security.
President Donald Trump initiated the removal of pro-Hamas green-card holders living in the US through a January executive order which called for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” A major provision of the order calls for the deportation of extremist “alien” student activists, whose support for terrorist organizations, intellectual and material, such as Hamas contributed to fostering antisemitism, violence, and property destruction on college campuses. Trump has also said that foreign students who hold demonstrations in support of Hamas “will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came.”
The policy has many detractors, such as AAUP president Todd Wolfson, who has said that it undermines civil liberties.
Alex Joffe, anthropologist and editor of BDS Monitor for Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, told The Algemeiner in March that the administration’s actions are legal and safeguard US interests.
“The Trump administration’s new policy of deporting pro-Hamas demonstrators who are not citizens is an important step toward addressing problems related to Hamas in America,” he explained in a statement. “The Immigration and Naturalization Act clearly gives the Secretary of State the authority to deport aliens on a variety of grounds, including endangering public safety and national security.”
A Louisiana immigration judge, Jamee E. Comans, recently agreed with President Trump, as well as Mr. Joffe, ruling that the federal government has “established clear and convincing evidence that [Mahmoud Khalil] is removable” due to “severe, adverse foreign policy consequences” carried by continued residing in the US. Khalil’s attorneys have until April 23 to petition the appeal his deportation.
If they do not do so, Khalil will be repatriated either to Syria or Algeria, two countries in which he reportedly holds citizenship.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Unjustifiable’: Trump Administration Responds to Deportations Lawsuit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Antisemitic Plan’: Over 100 Rabbis Call for Boycott of North Carolina Democratic Party Over Israel Arms Embargo
Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, speaks after Democrat Josh Stein won the North Carolina governor’s race, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US, Nov. 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
A coalition of more than 100 rabbis from across the US has issued a blistering public letter condemning the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) for its recent vote in favor of an arms embargo targeting Israel, urging others “not to support or collaborate with” the party’s leadership until they renounce their plan.
The letter, titled “Nationwide Rabbinic Protest Letter Against the NCDP’s Recent Vote for Arms Embargo,” was published as a full-page advertisement in the Charlotte Observer. The signatories, who represent synagogues, Jewish federations, and religious organizations from across the US, accused party leaders of taking a “biased” and “morally unsound” stance that singles out Israel while ignoring threats posed by its adversaries.
In late June, the state executive committee of the NCDP passed a resolution calling for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, claiming that weapons and other military aid that the US has provided Israel “have been used to commit the crime of genocide and other war crimes in Gaza.”
According to the coalition of rabbis, the resolution was a “morally unsound” measure and tantamount to declaring that Israel “is the only country that is not allowed to defend itself.” The letter described the move as an unprecedented “one-sided” action that “shocked us all to our core.”
“Your judgment to single Israel out in such an unprecedented, one-sided way rewards Israel’s adversaries,” the letter read, denouncing the call for an arms embargo as “simply a prejudice that we cannot live with.”
The rabbis called on the public to boycott the NCDP until it apologizes for singling out the world’s lone Jewish state, a staunch ally of the US.
“We call on all Jewish people, their allies, and any person who stands against hate not to support or collaborate with North Carolina’s Democratic Party leadership until they renounce their antisemitic plan of an arms embargo against America’s top ally in the Middle East and until they apologize for the cruel way in which they refused to meaningfully engage with vulnerable minority populations, our fellow Jewish North Carolinians,” the letter stated. “The state of North Carolina will not impact the efficacy of the Israel Defense Forces, but they will make North Carolina less hospitable by marginalizing Jewish people with a regression back to bigotry.”
The group, which includes leaders from Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox congregations, drew parallels to historic Jewish alliances with civil rights leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They argued that cutting off military aid undermines Israel’s security, jeopardizes US strategic alliances, and fuels antisemitism by marginalizing Jewish voices in political spaces.
The rabbis urged allies to reject what they framed as the NCDP’s “hateful anti-Zionism” and to “stand against hate, not support or collaborate with it.”
The letter reflects growing tensions between segments of the Democratic Party and pro-Israel advocates, as some progressive activists push for restrictions on US military aid in response to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank. While such measures have gained traction in local party bodies, they have also sparked backlash from Jewish leaders and more centrist Democrats who view them as undermining Israel’s right to self-defense.
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Iran Says Direct Nuclear Talks With US Possible Under Suitable Conditions
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Photo: Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran could hold direct nuclear talks with the United States if conditions are suitable, first Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said on Tuesday, according to state media.
But he said US demands for Tehran to drop uranium enrichment entirely were “a joke.”
A sixth round of talks between Tehran and Washington was suspended following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
Both powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, an accusation Tehran has rejected.
“Iran is ready for negotiations under equal conditions in order to safeguard its interests … The Islamic Republic’s stance is in the direction that people want and, should there be suitable conditions, we are even ready for direct talks,” Aref said.
Previous rounds of negotiations, which started in April, were indirect, mediated by Oman. Washington says uranium enrichment in Iran constitutes a pathway to developing nuclear weapons and should be dropped.
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made a controversial statement in favor of resuming negotiations with the US regardless of current levels of distrust.
“You don’t want to talk? Well then, what do you want to do? Do you want to go to war? … Going to talks does not mean we intend to surrender,” he said, adding that such issues should not be “approached emotionally.”
A senior commander of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards, Aziz Ghazanfari, reacting to Pezeshkian’s comments on Monday, said foreign policy requires discretion, and careless statements by authorities can have serious consequences for the country.
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Australia’s Albanese Says Netanyahu ‘In Denial’ Over Gaza Humanitarian Situation
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at a Labor party election night event, after local media projected the Labor Party’s victory, on the day of the Australian federal election, in Sydney, Australia, May 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was “in denial” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, a day after announcing Australia would recognize a Palestinian state for the first time.
Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s United Nations General Assembly, Albanese said on Monday, a move that adds to international pressure on Israel after similar announcements from France, Britain, and Canada.
Albanese said on Tuesday the Netanyahu government’s reluctance to listen to its allies contributed to Australia’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
“He again reiterated to me what he has said publicly as well, which is to be in denial about the consequences that are occurring for innocent people,” Albanese said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC, recounting a Thursday phone call with Netanyahu discussing the issue.
Australia’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state is conditional on commitments received from the Palestinian Authority, including that Islamist teoor group Hamas would have no involvement in any future state.
Right-leaning opposition leader Sussan Ley said the move, which breaks with long-held bipartisan policy over Israel and the Palestinian territories, risked jeopardizing Australia’s relationship with the United States.
SENTIMENT SHIFT
Albanese said as little as two weeks ago he would not be drawn on a timeline for recognition of a Palestinian state.
His incumbent center-left Labor Party, which won an increased majority at a general election in May, has previously been wary of dividing public opinion in Australia, which has significant Jewish and Muslim minorities.
But the public mood has shifted sharply after Israel said it planned to take military control of Gaza, amid increasing reports of hunger amongst its people.
Israel recently increased the flow of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, after imposing a temporary embargo in an effort to keep them out of the hands of Hamas, which often steals the aid for its own use and sells the rest to civilians at inflated prices. While facilitating the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, Israeli officials have condemned the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen. According to UN data, the vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients.
Nonetheless, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge this month calling for aid deliveries in Gaza.
“This decision is driven by popular sentiment in Australia which has shifted in recent months, with a majority of Australians wanting to see an imminent end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” said Jessica Genauer, a senior lecturer in international relations at Flinders University.
Opposition leader Ley said the decision was “disrespectful” of key ally the United States, which opposes Palestinian statehood.
“We would never have taken this step because this is completely against what our principles are, which is that recognition, the two state solution, comes at the end of the peace process, not before,” she said in an interview with radio station 2GB.
Neighboring New Zealand has said it is still considering whether to recognize a Palestinian state, a decision that drew sharp criticism from former prime minister Helen Clark on Tuesday.
“This is a catastrophic situation, and here we are in New Zealand somehow arguing some fine point about whether we should recognize we need to be adding our voice to the need for this catastrophe to stop,” she said in an interview with state broadcaster RNZ.
“This is not the New Zealand I’ve known.”