Season 5, Episode 15 (Show 224):Equality, Emergencies, Exception, and Easter

April 16, 2025

The deportation efforts of the Trump administration as applied to Mahmoud Khalil are the starting point for this look at the rights of citizens and non-citizens in this extreme context.

CLE Credit Available for this episode from podcast.njsba.com.

Deportations, the administration’s preferred tactic du jour, appear to many as extreme, inadvisable, and often cruel. Are they unconstitutional? What framework can we use to determine the rights of citizens versus aliens, even if legal, even if permanent resident? What kind of process is “due” for the various groups? Where can we locate the origins in our history, and how do they interact with some of the great themes of the Constitution, including the guarantees of the Bill of Rights, and the rights of “persons” as expressed in the 14th Amendment? The case of Mahmoud Khalil offers a set of facts that shed light on these questions, as do other deportations; we start with this one.

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)

Show Notes:

How to get Continuing Legal Education Credit for listening!

Virtually all lawyers and judges admitted to practice anywhere in the USA can obtain CLE (Continuing Legal Education) credit after listening to this episode by visiting podcast.njsba.com. You do not have to be a New Jersey lawyer or resident or admitted to the NJ Bar; essentially every state has reciprocity arrangements with New Jersey. When you visit the site you fill out a form and provide the code Andy read during the episode, pay a small fee, and within two weeks you will receive the certificate from New Jersey. It couldn’t be easier. Thanks to the New Jersey Bar Association for making this possible! Note, too, that other podcast episodes from our “back catalog” now qualify for this credit as well.

Click to go to the website for CLE credit

Memo from Secretary of State Rubio to Homeland Security

In this memo it appears that the Secretary of State is attempting to provide the certification required by statute in order to deport Mahmoud Khalil on the basis of thoughts, ideas, or speech, because of a supposed adverse consequence for US foreign policy.

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