New Jersey
Judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, but legal battles in NJ and Louisiana remain
Mahmoud Khalil hearing: See video of activity outside
Scenes outside the hearing of detained Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil at U.S. District Court in Newark on Friday, March 28, 2025.
A U.S. immigration judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that the Trump administration can move forward with efforts to deport former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.
But the fate of the pro-Palestinian activist remains unclear with legal rounds still to be fought, including in a lawsuit filed by Khalil in New Jersey.
Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans announced the decision in the LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana, according to Reuters. The ruling hands President Donald Trump an early victory in his attempts to crack down on critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
The administration has said protests last spring created a threatening environment for Jewish students on campus while Khalil’s attorneys say his actions were protected by the U.S. Constitution’s free-speech guarantees.
Khalil, 30, was arrested March 8 in the lobby of his student apartment building in New York City. The Syrian-born Palestinian, a legal U.S. resident, has not been accused of any crime, but the Trump administration has moved to deport him, arguing his presence has “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.
Khalil is being held at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Facility in Jena. But he also has a suit pending in federal court in New Jersey, where he was held for a few hours at an immigrant detention center in Elizabeth before being transferred south.
The American Civil Liberties Union, one of the legal groups representing Khalil, said in a statement after the hearing that the judge’s decision appeared to be “pre-written.” The judge gave Khalil’s attorneys until April 23 to seek a waiver to stop his deportation.
Khalil addressed Judge Comans at the end of the hearing, saying “I would like to quote what you said last time that there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,” according to an ACLU statement. “Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process.
“This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months.”
His lawsuit argues the detention violates his rights to free speech and due process, and that his case should be heard in the Garden State. The government tried to get the case moved to Louisiana, where it would be heard by a more conservative judiciary, but a federal court rejected that bid.
The Trump administration has argued it has the right to remove noncitizens under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act. Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleged in a recent letter that Khalil participated in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities” at Columbia that “undermine U.S. efforts to combat antisemitism.”
The administration has sought to remove other critics of Israel’s fight against the terrorist organization Hamas. Khalil had served as a spokesman for protesters on the Columbia campus opposed to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which were a response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. Protesters have been outraged that the response left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and wounded.
Khalil’s lawyers say their client was engaging in constitutionally protected activity.
This story includes information from Reuters.
Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter/X: @ricardokaul
New Jersey
Mail stolen from 6 USPS mailboxes across Fort Lee, N.J. Map shows where residents need to be wary
Nick Caloway is a multi-skilled journalist who was thrilled to join the CBS News New York news team in August 2019.
Since then, Nick has covered crime, politics, the pandemic and more across the Tri-State Area.
Read Full Bio
Police are investigating after mail was stolen from half a dozen United States Postal Service mailboxes in Fort Lee, New Jersey, over the weekend.
It comes amid recent reports of mail security issues across the Tri-State Area.
Fort Lee Police issue warning for residents who used blue mailboxes
Fort Lee Police say Sunday morning, a resident contacted the authorities after noticing a blue USPS mailbox was unsecured, open and empty.
“They did a little canvassing of some other mailboxes in the area, in the borough, and realized there was probably about a half dozen other mailboxes in the same situation, where the door was open and all the mail was removed,” Fort Lee Police Chief Matthew Hintze said.
Hintze said Fort Lee Police launched a joint investigation with USPS inspectors and discovered six mailboxes were targeted across Fort Lee. The boxes were located at:
- 1580 Lemoine Ave.
- 231 Main St.
- 309 Main St.
- 1213 Anderson Ave.
- 1475 Bergen Blvd.
- Abbott Boulevard/Columbia Avenue
Investigators believe the master key or locks on the mailboxes were somehow compromised. They also believe the thief or thieves were likely looking for personal information to commit fraud.
Police say anyone who dropped mail containing sensitive information in any of the impacted mailboxes after 3 p.m. on Sept. 20 should be on the lookout for suspicious activity.
“Please monitor all your financial accounts, check your bank accounts. If you really want to do due diligence, conduct a credit report, maybe a credit freeze,” Hintze said. “If you see anything suspicious or fraudulent, please come in to the Fort Lee Police Department and make that report.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Mail-related crime across New York and New Jersey
This is just the latest mail-related crime reported in the Tri-State Area in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, two Long Island business owners said they lost nearly $3,000 after someone apparently fished checks they had mailed out of a mailbox, washed off the ink, and rewrote the checks.
“I went to the post office to file a complaint, and they said this is an everyday occurrence. It’s constantly happening,” business owner Rich Miller said at the time.
They were later reimbursed, but they weren’t the only recent victims of check washing. Another Long Island resident said she lost $20,000 after three checks she wrote were stolen and cashed by a thief.
“What the Postal Police had showed me is that they literally took Wite-Out and they erased the payable to,” Jean Gioglio-Goehring said.
Experts advise paying bills electronically to avoid falling victim to crimes like these.
Police say another way to keep your mail safe is to bring it inside the post office instead of just dropping it one of the blue mailboxes, even if the boxes are right outside the building.
“The only way you’re going to be safe is to take the mail actually into the post office during business hours and then you know your mail is safe. Because if you deposit it in a mailbox after hours, then you’re certainly at risk,” Tenafly resident Neil Taylor said.
Sept. 23 (UPI) — The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in New Jersey gathered 2,358 people to play catch and break a Guinness World Record.
The Sunday event at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls officially broke the record for the largest game of catch, with 2,358 people splitting off into pairs to throw baseballs back and forth.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael Empric said there were very few disqualifications during the attempt.
“There were some phone violations, and also there was some rolling of the ball,” he told MLB.com. “When we say catch, we want people to play to the best of their ability. That does involve throwing the ball, not rolling it. There weren’t a lot of deductions, though. For a group this size, I think eight pairs were deducted, which was minimal.”
The regular season is heating up and there is must-see action across the state of New Jersey. Check out the list below to see some of the best games to keep from Monday, Sept. 15, to Sunday, Sept. 21.
Monday, Sept. 15
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