"I asked that these cases be dropped, Mamdani said at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Weeksville Heritage Center Friday. And the president said that he would look into it. The mayor said he also spoke about Ellie Aghayeva, a Columbia undergraduate taken into custody by federal agents, during his meeting with the president Thursday. He said Trump informed him she would be released and Aghayeva was out of custody later that day."
"The other four are among a number of pro-Palestinian noncitizens targeted by federal immigration authorities last year, after protests against Israel's military operation that devastated large parts of Gaza swept through the US. Trump had pledged to crack down on noncitizens protesting Israel, whom he framed as Hamas sympathizers."
"The government targeted individuals who had spoken out in various ways and to various degrees in support of Palestinian human rights, Brett Max Kaufman, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU who is representing Khalil and Mahdawi, told CNN. It took these actions against them, to detain and remove them from the country, as retaliation for that speech."
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with President Trump to advocate for five individuals facing federal immigration proceedings. Four pro-Palestinian protesters—Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Leqaa Kordia—were targeted by immigration authorities following Gaza protests. Additionally, Columbia undergraduate Ellie Aghayeva was detained by federal agents. Mamdani requested case dismissals, and Trump agreed to review the protesters' cases. Aghayeva was released the same day. Civil rights advocates argue these individuals were targeted for constitutionally protected speech rather than legitimate immigration violations. Only Kordia remains in custody; the others fight their cases from home. The ACLU contends the government used immigration enforcement as retaliation for pro-Palestinian advocacy.
#immigration-enforcement #pro-palestinian-protests #free-speech-rights #trump-administration #civil-rights
Read at www.cnn.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]