Former Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported to either Algeria or Syria, a federal immigration judge ruled recently. Immigration judges are administrative law judges employed by a federal agency, not part of the federal judiciary, and can be removed by their superiors.
The College Fix reports:
Khalil, who graduated from the university last year and has been heavily involved in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activism, has 30 days to appeal the ruling from immigration judge Jamee Comans.
Khalil “willfully misrepresented material fact(s)” in order to obtain a green card, the Columbia Spectator reported. The former graduate student “did not disclose information about an internship he held at the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees on his I-485 form, an application for permanent residence in the United States,” the Spectator reported.
He had both a visa and a green card, as the Washington Free Beacon has reported….
Klein asked Khalil if he believed the Hamas attack aimed to create a conflict in the Middle East by baiting Israel into attacking or if he believed it was meant to “break the equilibrium.”
“I think it’s more the latter, like just to break the cycle. To break that Palestinians are not being heard,” Khalil said, as previously reported by The College Fix.
The New York Times adds:
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have asked a federal judge to intercede after an immigration court judge ordered last week that he be removed to Syria or Algeria.Mr. Khalil, who was a Columbia University graduate student when he was abruptly arrested by the Trump administration this year, is not in imminent danger of deportation.A standing order from the federal judge, Michael E. Farbiarz, prohibits Mr. Khalil’s removal from the country. He has until October to appeal the immigration judge’s decision and further appeals could forestall his deportation.But several months after he was released from detention in Louisiana, his legal plight is growing more dire.
Mr. Khalil’s case is progressing in two separate courts: A federal court in New Jersey, where Judge Farbiarz is scrutinizing constitutional issues, and an immigration court in Louisiana….Since Mr. Khalil’s March arrest, the Trump administration has sought to deport him…The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, cited a rarely used statute as the legal rationale for Mr. Khalil’s deportation, saying that his mere presence in the United States spread antisemitism.More than a week later, the administration added a separate rationale for deportation, saying that Mr. Khalil had failed to disclose membership in several organizations when he applied for legal residency in March 2024.
