Hundreds of people gathered outside the courtroom in New York City to demand the release of the Palestinian activist Mahmoud KhalilWhose arrest during the weekend sparked a conviction and fears of the freedom of expression campaign in the United States.

The demonstrators met on Wednesday outside the federal court in Manhattan to obtain the first official session in the Khalil case, as it faces a possible deportation of his activity.

“Mahmoud Khalil’s launch now!” They chanted.

During the short session, Khalil Ramzi Casim’s lawyer said Client He was only allowed one call with his legal team from the detention center, where he is being held in the southern state of Louisiana.

But Casim said that the call was cut prematurely and was on the line of registration and monitoring by the government.

The American boycott judge Jesse Foreman spent that Khalil and his lawyer should receive a phone call on Wednesday and last Thursday, covered with the privilege of the lawyer, which means that the government will not be able to reach their conversation.

Foreman on Monday temporarily prevented the deportation of Khalil.

ICE and Customs enforcement agents (ICE), Khalil, a 29 -year -old Colombia graduate and permanent resident of the United States, arrested at his residence in New York City on the weekend.

Ice officials said they intend to cancel its green card at the request of the US State Department.

Khalil was at the forefront of the Palestinian loyalty Demonstrations At the University of Colombia last year, which witnessed students demanding an end to the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip. Speaking a spokesperson for the negotiator.

But while he was carrying a second term at the White House, US President Donald Trump pledge To stop the pro -Palestinian demonstrations that erupted after Israel launched a deadly war on Gaza in October 2023 and the deportation of any foreign students involved.

Upon his office, he began to issue executive measures indicating that he would implement his threats.

Trump said at the White House: “For all the resident foreigners who joined the protests in support of the jihadists, we put you in a notice: Come 2025, and we will find you, and we will welcome you,” Trump said at the White House. Fact paper.

“I will quickly cancel student visas for all Hamas sympathizers on the university campus, which was created with extremism as it has not happened before.”

Trump recently welcomed the arrest of Khalil, saying on Monday that he was “the first among many.”

He accused students throughout the country of engaging in “pro -consequences activity, anti -Semitism, anti -America” ​​that his administration “will not tolerate.”

But experts say that Khalil’s detention highlights a widespread attack on pro -Palestinian activity in the United States, as well as a worrying sign of freedom of expression and opposition under the Trump administration.

“From an objective point of view, what is happening is already an attempt to silence all the general expression of supporting Palestinian human rights in the situation of the right -wing Israeli supporters within the Republican Party,” Nader Hashemi, a professor at George Town University, Tell the island this week.

Legal questions

The legal basis for the detention of Khalil was also questioned.

White House press secretary Caroline Levitte told reporters on Tuesday Foreign Minister Marco Rubio The Khalil Al -Khadra card can cancel if Rubio decides to be in the United States, unlike national security and foreign policy.

Quoting a governmental document separating the civil accusations faced by Khalil, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Rubio’s design “is the only justification for the Trump administration” for his attempt to deport him.

Separately, Rubio told the correspondents that the Khalil case “is not related to freedom of expression.”

“This relates to people who do not have the right to be in the United States to start,” said the best diplomat for the United States to reporters at Shannon Airport in Ireland while refueling stop after a trip to Saudi Arabia.

“No one has the right to visa the student. Rubio said:” No one has the right to a green card, by the way. “

But in his speech outside the Manhattan Court, Khalil Casim’s lawyer told the correspondents that the legal ruling is rarely used that the Trump administration is not aiming to silence the opposition.

“It is not intended to use it The silence of the Palestinian supporter’s speech Or any other speech that the government does not like.

Khalil’s lawyers also asked Foreman – the judge supervising the case – to order that their client will be returned from Louisiana to New York.

Christine Salome, who was reported from New York on Wednesday afternoon, said the Khalil legal team argued that he should return to Medina because he is far from his lawyer and his pregnant wife.

“They also claim that it is simply targeting his activity to support Palestinian rights and calls for the end of the genocide in Gaza,” said Salomey.

At the hearing, government lawyer Brandon Waterman said they intend to challenge the Foreman authority to determine the case.

Waterman said that Khalil’s petition had to be served in Louisiana or in New Jersey, where he was initially brought after his arrest.

Foreman, who is called “important and heavy” legal issues, asked the two sides to submit a joint speech on Friday, describing when they propose to make written arguments on legal cases raised by Khalil’s detention.