Palestinian Student Arrested After NYC Protest Can Be Deported, Judge Says

NEW YORK CITY — Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student and green card holder detained by federal immigration agents last month during the Trump administration's crackdown on campus protestors, can be deported, a Louisiana judge ruled Friday, according to Khalil's lawyers.

Khalil is a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.

Jamee Comans, a Louisiana immigration judge, said she had no authority to question Secretary of State Marco Rubio's determination that allowing Khalil to remain in the country would undermine U.S. foreign policy, his lawyers said.

"This is egregious overreach by the US government," Amy Greer, associate attorney at Dratel & Lewis, said. "Every single person in this country has the right to speak out against issues that matter to them — and I fear that this decision will embolden the Trump administration to target other vulnerable people who are simply speaking out for Palestinian human rights and against an ongoing genocide. We have fought for Mahmoud’s release every single day since he was detained. We will continue to do so until he is home with his family."

Khalil, a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested on March 8 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as part of a Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian protestors on college campuses. His wife is eight months pregnant.

He was first brought to a detention center in New Jersey before being transferred to one in Louisiana.

Khalil's arrest happened one day after the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal grants from Columbia and vowed to arrest and deport student activists.

To target Khalil, the Trump administration used a new policy of using a provision of the 1953 Immigration and Nationality Act to arrest and detain noncitizens who engage in protest that could harm the country's international relations.

"Under the Immigration and Nationality Act the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests" of the U.S., Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters in March, according to the Associated Press.

Khalil has adamantly rejected allegations of antisemitism, accusing the Trump administration in a letter sent from jail last month of "targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent."

"I would like to quote what you said last time that there's nothing that's more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness," Khalil said, addressing the court after the hearing. "Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process. This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months."

Khalil is not yet scheduled for deportation. The judge gave Khalil’s attorneys until April 23 to seek a waiver.

Additional reporting by Megan VerHelst. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story and may be updated. For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.