Team Justice Hits a Triple

Khalil to be released; Trump's Harvard ban blocked; DOT funds can't be used for immigration enforcement.

Mahmoud Khalil, soon to be released from federal detention!

[Nota bene: By “justice,” I mean the rule of law, not the DOJ headed by AG Bondi.]

FIRST VICTORY:

• “A federal court today granted bail to Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student and lawful permanent resident targeted for deportation by the Trump administration because of his Palestinian rights advocacy. He will be able to return to New York to be with his wife and newborn son while his case proceeds. “After more than three months we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father,” said Dr. Noor Abdalla, Mahmoud Khalil’s wife. “We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians. But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family, and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom.” - NYCLU, June 20, 2025.

SECOND VICTORY:

• “A federal judge on Friday granted Harvard a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration’s withdrawal of its ability to enroll international students but did not address President Donald Trump’s entry ban on holders of Harvard-sponsored visas. The preliminary injunction will prevent the federal government’s May 22 revocation of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification until United States District Judge Allison D. Burroughs reaches a decision in the University’s lawsuit. Burroughs also directed the federal government to issue guidance to consular and customs officers to disregard the revocation and document its compliance in the next 72 hours.” - The Harvard Crimson, June 20, 2025.

THIRD VICTORY:

• “The Trump administration on Thursday was yet again found to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution, this time being scrutinized by a federal judge for trying to tie federal transportation funding to states’ compliance with mass deportations.

  U.S. District Judge John McConnell issued a preliminary injunction on behalf of 20 states, who sued the Department of Transportation and its secretary Sean Duffy in May for threatening to cut funds to states who refuse to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In doing so, Duffy’s actions violated the Constitution, McConnell ruled Thursday. “Congress did not authorize or grant authority to the Secretary of Transportation to impose immigration enforcement conditions on federal dollars specifically appropriated for transportation purposes,” the Barack Obama appointee in Rhode Island wrote in a 10-page ruling.” - Courthouse News, June 19, 2025.

TRICK QUESTION #1: CAN ICE READ?

• In clear violation of a federal statute (Sec. 527 of P.L. 118-47) stating that Members of Congress may, for oversight purposes, enter any DHS facility “used to detain or otherwise house aliens,” without prior notice, ICE has blocked members of Congress from visiting ICE field offices where immigrants are detained. A June 20, 2025 letter to DHS from eight members of Congress states: “We write to express alarm about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE)

  continued obstruction of lawful congressional oversight visits, including recent denials of access to ICE field offices being used to house immigrants, such as the one located at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City. These denials are not only indefensible, but they are also a clear violation of current law. … ICE has claimed in official guidance, titled “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

  Facility Visit and Engagement Protocol for Members of Congress and Staff” that its field offices fall outside of Section 527 requirements because “ICE does not house aliens at field offices.” However, this assertion is directly contradicted by the agency’s own leadership. On June 18, in the process of denying a request by Congressmen Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler to observe the ICE facilities where immigrants are being housed, New York Deputy Field Director Bill Joyce confirmed that individuals are in fact held – without beds – at 26 Federal Plaza for multiple days. When individuals are deprived of their liberty in a secure facility for multiple days, they are unquestionably being “detained” or “housed” under the plain language of Section 527(a). And the facility need not be designated as a “detention facility;” rather, the plain language of the statute refers to a facility “used” to detain or house immigrants. By ICE’s own admission, the Field Office at 26 Federal Plaza is being “used” to “house” immigrants.”

TRICK QUESTION #2: CAN DHS COUNT?

• DHS claims that “ICE Agents Now Face a 500% Increase in Assaults Against Them,” based on “new data” and “new statistics” released today, June 20, 2025. But the “data” and “statistics” were not, in fact “released” to the public. Whatever they are, they were “exclusively obtained by Breitbart News,”…according to DHS’s own media release! To recap, DHS claims to have important new “data” and “statistics,” but only Breitbart News has them. Not you, not me. Will Brietbart and/or DHS release them to the public? Who knows! In any case, I have filed a FOIA request with DHS asking for all records relating to the calculation of the 500% number. Stay tuned!

FROM THE “FEEL SAFER NOW?” FILES:

• A teenage student and soccer stand-out was arrested by immigration authorities four days after his high school graduation ceremony in Ohio earlier this month, and deported to Honduras this week, his family has said. Emerson Colindres, 19, had no criminal record and was attending a regularly scheduled appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Cincinnati when he was detained on 4 June, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. His parents told the newspaper he was deported on Wednesday to a country he has not lived in since he was eight years old.” - The Guardian, June 20, 2025.

FROM THE PODCAST FILES:

• What’s happening in Los Angeles? - “This episode dives into the facts on the ground in Los Angeles, examining the protests that aim to counter the terror spread through the workplaces and neighborhoods of Los Angeles because of the ICE actions and augmented by a federalized National Guard and the deployment of US Marines. Our guest speakers are from UCLA School of Law’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy: Ahilan Arulanantham, professor from practice and faculty co-director and Talia Inlander, the Center’s deputy director.” - Unsettled: Immigration in Turbulent Times, June 20, 2025.

That’s all for today. Comments always welcome. THANK YOU! to all subscribers, free and paid.

Stay wide awake

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