Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. Photo: Jeenah Moon via Reuters Connect

A US judge on Wednesday ordered that a detained leading anti-Israel agitator at Columbia University in New York be allowed to have private phone calls with lawyers challenging his arrest by immigration authorities.

Mahmoud Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s pledge to deport pro-Hamas college activists. Khalil’s lawyers argue the arrest violated his right to free speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment and have urged his release.

At a hearing in Manhattan federal court, Khalil’s lawyer Ramzi Kassem said his client had been allowed just one call with his legal team from immigration detention in Louisiana. Kassem said the call was cut off prematurely and was on a line recorded and monitored by the government.

US District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that Khalil, 29, and his lawyers should have one phone call today and another one tomorrow covered by attorney-client privilege, meaning the government would not have access to their conversation.

Furman on Monday temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation.

Furman said the calls would help Khalil’s lawyers prepare a revised petition challenging the constitutionality of his arrest on Saturday evening by Department of Homeland Security agents outside his university residence in Manhattan.

“Mr. Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights,” Kassem said in court.

Brandon Waterman, a lawyer for the government, said he had not been aware of any issues with Khalil’s access to his lawyers but would look into it.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, holding signs reading “Release Mahmoud Khalil” and chanting “Down, down with deportation, up, up with liberation.”

Khalil, who is of Palestinian origin, came to the US on a student visa in 2022 and became a permanent resident last year.

He became a prominent member of Columbia’s protest movement against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza that followed the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

US President Donald Trump has alleged on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, but his administration has not charged him with a crime and has not provided any evidence to show Khalil’s alleged support for the Palestinian terrorist group.

The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, has the authority to order Khalil released from detention if he finds his rights were violated, according to legal experts.

Even if Khalil is released, deportation proceedings could nonetheless continue in a separate immigration court. Khalil would have the right to appeal an unfavorable ruling, a potentially lengthy process.

PROTECTED FREE SPEECH TEST

The case could ultimately test where immigration courts draw the line between protected free speech and alleged support for US-designated terrorist groups.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday told reporters that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could revoke Khalil’s green card if he determined his presence in the United States was contrary to the country’s national security and foreign policy interests.

Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Khalil’s lawyer Kassem told reporters that Leavitt’s comment appeared to be a reference to a rarely-used legal provision that was not meant to silence dissent.

“It is not intended to be used to silence pro-Palestinian speech or any other speech that the government doesn’t like,” Kassem said.

The Trump administration says anti-Israel protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism.

Khalil’s lawyers have also asked Furman to order that he be returned to New York, after they say authorities transported him to immigration detention in Louisiana.

At the hearing, government lawyer Waterman said they planned to challenge Furman’s authority to decide the case. Waterman said Khalil’s petition should have been filed in Louisiana or in New Jersey, where he was initially brought after his arrest.

After the hearing, one of Khalil’s lawyers, Shezza Abboushi Dallal, read a statement from Khalil’s wife, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant and did not wish to be named.

“So many who know and love Mahmoud have come together, refusing to stay silent,” the statement read. “Their support is a testament to his character and to the deep injustice of what is being done to him.”