Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil should be deported to Algeria or Syria, an immigration judge has ruled, saying that he deliberately lied on his green card application.
Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student who holds a green card — and is not a U.S. citizen — was previously detained by Trump officials who sought to deport him.
Efforts by the Trump administration to deport him as a national security risk failed, but allegations he lied on his green card resonated with Immigration Judge Jamee Comans, according to NBC.
BREAKING NEWS: “Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, judge rules” pic.twitter.com/J6gxLjHag6
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 11, 2025
Comans, based in Jena, Louisiana, said Khalil should be deported to Algeria or Syria within 30 days.
Khalil’s attorneys indicated they will said they plan to appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Comans ruled that Khalil’s “lack of candor on his I-485 form was not an oversight by an uninformed, uneducated applicant.” The form is used to register for permanent residence status.
Khalil “willfully misrepresented material fact(s) for the sole purpose of circumventing the immigration process and reducing the likelihood his application would be denied,” according to Axios.
Is deporting Mahmoud Khalil the right move?
Yesterday, An immigration judge in Louisiana has ordered pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil deported to Syria or Algeria.
This is a legal court order —— deport now ! pic.twitter.com/ECpEjnse5y
— Freedom is not free 🇺🇸 (@MSGFreedom) September 18, 2025
“This Court cannot and will not condone such an action by granting a discretionary waiver,” she wrote.
“To do so, would encourage future applicants to take the gamble of materially misrepresenting facts and then seeking a waiver if it is somehow discovered by the U.S. government.”
Specifically, according to Fox News. Khalil did not disclose an internship with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and his connections with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a campus coalition opposed to Israel.
Khalil’s attorneys wrote to U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz urging him to prevent Khalil from being removed while a habeas corpus case before Farbiarz is pending.
“The only meaningful impediment to Petitioner’s physical removal from the United States would be this Court’s important order prohibiting removal during the pendency of his federal habeas case,” the letter said, NBC reported.
Khalil used the opportunity to again trash the Trump administration.
“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,” he said.
“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,” he said. “Such fascist tactics will never deter me from continuing to advocate for my people’s liberation.”
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