An immigration judge in Louisiana has ordered Palestinian Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil deported to Syria or Algeria based on the Trump administration’s claims that he failed to disclose information on his green card application, according to court documents in his New Jersey federal court case.
Khalil intends to fight the Sept. 12 ruling by Immigration Judge Jamee Comans, his attorneys told Federal Judge Michael Farbiarz in a Wednesday filing, which revealed the development.
Still, they said they had “ample reason” to expect the process would be swift, “given statements targeting [Khalil] by name for retaliation and deportation made by the President and several senior U.S. government officials.”
The New Jersey judge, Farbiarz, has prohibited immigration officials from removing Khalil from the country pending the outcome of his habeas corpus case, challenging the lawfulness of his detention and deportation based on his advocacy for Palestinians.
“It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech. Their latest attempt, through a kangaroo immigration court, exposes their true colors once again,” Khalil said in a statement.
“When their first effort to deport me was set to fail, they resorted to fabricating baseless and ridiculous allegations in a bid to silence me for speaking out and standing firmly with Palestine, demanding an end to the ongoing genocide. Such fascist tactics will never deter me from continuing to advocate for my people’s liberation.”
Khalil, 30, a green card holder with no criminal record, played a prominent role as a negotiator in campus protests at Columbia against Israel’s war on Gaza.
He was the first in a series of noncitizen college activists targeted in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Originally Published:
