**WASHINGTON**
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday slammed the "illegal" US detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.
"No, Mr. President, you cannot illegally arrest and detain legal US residents because of their political views or opinions. In America, we have a little something called the First Amendment," Sanders wrote on X, referring to the section of the Constitution protecting freedom of speech.
"Throwing protesters in jail is yet another step on the path to authoritarianism,” he added.
Campaigning last year to regain the presidency, Donald Trump, behind closed doors, vowed to "throw out" pro-Palestinian foreign student protesters if he was elected, according to The Washington Post.
Sanders' remarks came right after US District Judge Jesse Furman on Wednesday extended a ban on Khalil's deportation from the US.
Khalil, a green card holder and recent Columbia University graduate who helped lead a pro-Palestinian encampment last April, was arrested at his university-owned residence in New York on Saturday night.
According to Khalil’s lawyer Amy Greer, he was “wrongfully arrested” by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who claimed his student visa was revoked – even though he is a legal permanent resident and not in the US on a student visa. He is married to a US citizen who is eight months pregnant.
The judge is now considering whether ICE's decision to transfer Khalil to a federal detention facility in Louisiana violated the law.
While hundreds of demonstrators rallied in New York City to demand Khalil’s release, US lawmakers and civil rights groups took to social media to criticize his continued detention.
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