A U.S. immigration judge has ruled that federal authorities may proceed with the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a controversial Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist whose campus activities have been linked to radical, antisemitic demonstrations.
The decision came from Judge Jamee Comans at the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana — a facility located within a secure detention complex managed by federal contractors. Khalil, who was arrested last month in New York City, has emerged as a key figure in the anti-Israel protests that have rocked Columbia’s campus and drawn national outrage.
Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, holds Algerian citizenship, and only became a U.S. permanent resident last year. His ties to extremist rhetoric and disruptive campus activism have raised alarms about how foreign agitators are using U.S. institutions to promote radical ideologies.
Although his wife is a U.S. citizen, Khalil himself is subject to deportation based on a determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Citing a rarely used clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, Rubio argued that Khalil’s continued presence in the U.S. could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”