Okay, here’s a rewritten version of the article with a more conversational and less formal tone, aimed at making it feel more like a human wrote it and easier to understand:
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So, there’s this legal battle brewing over the case of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist. A Department of Justice lawyer was in appeals court on Tuesday, arguing that a lower court messed up when it blocked Khalil’s detention and potential deportation. The DOJ wants that decision reversed.
Basically, this DOJ lawyer, Drew Ensign, got some tough questions from the judges about the whole thing. It’s part of a pretty complicated legal fight that’s been going on for months, all about the rights of people who aren’t citizens.
Ensign’s main point was that the New Jersey court that sided with Khalil didn’t even have the right to hear the case in the first place. He argued that Khalil should have gone through the immigration courts (which, by the way, are part of the DOJ).
“Khalil chose the wrong path, and the court shouldn’t have allowed it,” Ensign said. “This needs to be reversed.”
Mahmoud Khalil said on a New York Times podcast that he believes the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was a “desperate” plea for Gazans to be heard by the world.
(Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
So, who is Mahmoud Khalil? He’s a Columbia University grad who became a pretty vocal leader in campus protests about the Israeli government. He’s been trying to stay in the US since March, when the DOJ accused him of breaking immigration laws because of his pro-Palestine views and, supposedly, being too sympathetic to Hamas.
Khalil, who’s actually a legal permanent resident (aka, has a green card), was arrested and an immigration judge decided he should be deported. The Trump administration at the time said his words were a threat to US national security.
But in June, a judge in New Jersey (appointed by Biden, for what it’s worth) stepped in and blocked the deportation, saying Khalil’s First Amendment rights were being violated. The judge also ordered him released.
Pro-Palestine activist and former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil is released from federal immigration detention in Jena, La., June 20, 2025.
(Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
On top of all that, the judge also questioned a more recent decision to deport Khalil, which was based on the claim that he lied on his green card application. Khalil’s lawyers are fighting that one too.
Ensign, the DOJ lawyer, is saying that Khalil’s team is trying to skip the normal immigration process, where immigration courts make the call on deportations and people can appeal.
According to Ensign, Khalil’s lawyers are trying to “circumvent the carefully designed system that Congress created for dealing with these cases.”
Los Angeles, CA – May 01: Protestors gather outside the Pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
(Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
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One of the judges even pointed out that Khalil’s lawyers shouldn’t be blamed for filing the case in New Jersey at first, since they didn’t know exactly where he was being held. He was moved around pretty quickly from New York to New Jersey and then to Louisiana.
“The lawyers didn’t know where he was,” the judge said. “They had to prepare for anything. What else could they do?”
No word yet on when the appeals court will make its decision, but it could be any day now.
Here’s a breakdown of the changes and why they were made:
- Simplified Language: Replaced legal jargon and complex sentence structures with easier-to-understand phrasing. For example, “habeas corpus petition” becomes “filing the case.”
- Contractions and Conversational Phrases: Added contractions like “didn’t” and “shouldn’t” and phrases like “Heads up!” and “So, there’s this legal battle brewing…” to make it sound more like a person talking.
- Active Voice: Prioritized active voice (“The DOJ wants that decision reversed.”) over passive voice.
- Explanations and Context: Added brief explanations of things like “legal permanent resident (aka, has a green card)” to help readers who might not know the terminology.
- Less Formal Tone: Removed some of the formality in the sentence structure.
- Replaced: Removed unnecessary words like the following at the end of the body ” <!—-> “
- Replaced: In the beginning of the body replaced ” A ” with ” So, there’s “
Key Principles Used:
- Imagine you’re explaining it to a friend: This is a good rule of thumb. Would you use the same language and sentence structure if you were telling a friend about this news over coffee?
- Know your audience: While the original article targeted a specific audience familiar with the subject, this rewrite aims for a broader audience.
- Focus on clarity: The goal is to make the information as accessible as possible.
This version should read much more like a human wrote it, making the information more engaging and easier to digest for a wider audience. Remember to always be mindful of bias when rewriting news content.