An immigration judge has ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the United States due to his involvement in leading last year’s pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
Judge Jamee Comans in Louisiana ruled on Friday that Khalil, 30, can be deported, saying that the U.S. government met its burden of proof to remove him.
Khalil’s team of attorneys have until April 23 to file relief applications.
On Tuesday, Comans ordered the federal government to provide evidence by Wednesday justifying its attempt to deport Khalil.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded on behalf of the government in a roughly one-and-a-half-page letter sent to the court on Wednesday. He cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to justify Khalil’s removal from the U.S.
The provision allows the Secretary of State to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the U.S. “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
READ THE LETTER – APP USERS CLICK HERE
Rubio accused Khalil of participating in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” Rubio wrote.
Khalil’s attorneys have argued that the government’s detention of the Columbia University graduate is “extraordinary and unprecendented” and that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952’s scope is “breathtaking.”
“President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio could apply it to any speech supporting Palestinian rights by any noncitizen. And the policy provides no standards or notice as to what specific statements might subject noncitizens to this unprecedented determination,” they wrote.
They argued that, if pursued, deportation could result in a “chilling effect on political debate.”
“Many noncitizens across the country—including lawful permanent residents like Mr. Khalil—now live in fear that they will be next if their actual or imputed speech brings them into the crosshairs of this administration, and many are choosing to stay silent about their strongly-held beliefs,” they said.
He is the first in the Trump administration’s crusade to revoke student visas for participating in protests. The Department of Homeland Security alleged that he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, leading to Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreigners’ student visas.
Khalil has maintained his innocence throughout the hearings, writing a blistering op-ed published in the school’s newspaper. The op-ed, titled simply “A letter to Columbia,” accused the institution of “laying the groundwork for my abduction.”
He went on to compare Trump’s crackdown on anti-Israel protesters to Columbia’s own apathy toward Palestinians, listing other students who have been “snatched by the state.”
“The situation is oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and sought refuge in Lebanon,” Khalil wrote. “The logic used by the federal government to target myself and my peers is a direct extension of Columbia’s repression playbook concerning Palestine.”
He went on to accuse Columbia administrators of manufacturing “public hysteria about antisemitism without once mentioning the tens of thousands of Palestinians murdered under bombs made of your dollars.”
WATCH: ARREST OF MAHMOUD KHALIL
The message came weeks after ICE agents detained Khalil in New York City in early March.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Khalil’s attorney, Baher Amzy, and DHS for comment.
