A Louisiana immigration judge has ordered that Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil may be deported from the U.S. because of national security reasons. The judge made the ruling after a hearing when the government claimed that Khalil's presence in the U.S. would pose extreme foreign policy consequences. Immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans ruled that the government had established enough evidence to warrant the deportation of Khalil.
Khalil's lawyers, however, plan to appeal the ruling, seeking a waiver and continuing their battle. A federal judge in New Jersey temporarily halted his deportation while the legal process continues.
Khalil, a lawful U.S. resident, was detained by federal immigration authorities on March 8. His arrest was the first under President Donald Trump's policy to detain students who participate in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Khalil was quickly transferred to an immigration detention facility in Jena, away from his lawyers and his wife, a U.S. citizen who is about to give birth.
His lawyers have challenged the legality of his detention, alleging the Trump administration is doing it to silence free speech, which is protected by the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a little-used law to support the deportation, stating that Khalil is a threat to U.S. foreign policy.
During the hearing, Khalil's lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout, contended that the attempt at deportation was unrelated to foreign policy, refuting the government's assertions. Judge Comans had already called on the government to present tangible evidence connecting Khalil's activities to national security issues, warning that he would end the case if the evidence was weak.
The lawyers representing the Department of Justice suggested that Judge Comans would not be able to release Khalil right away but might conduct a bail hearing in the future. Khalil, who is not charged with any criminal activity at demonstrations against Israel's activities in Gaza, has come under criticism because he has participated in such protests. The government argues his involvement in such protests is sufficient reason for him to be deported because it identifies his beliefs with antisemitic attitudes and Hamas, an armed militant group responsible for targeting Israel in October 2023.
The 30-year-old international affairs graduate student played a key role in a protest at Columbia last year, where students camped on university grounds to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. While Khalil wasn’t involved in the occupation of an administration building, his public visibility at the protests made him a target of criticism, especially after the White House accused him of aligning with terrorists. However, the administration has yet to provide evidence supporting this accusation.
New York and New Jersey federal courts have stepped in, halting his deportation pending legal appeals. The Trump administration has also threatened to cut over $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University for its management of campus protests, which some Jewish students and faculty members have characterized as hostile to their ideology and to Israel.
The repression of Israel's critics has gone beyond Khalil. Other people, such as a Georgetown University scholar and a Brown University professor, have also suffered the same fate for their activities regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict.
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