US Court Approves Deportation of Palestinian Columbia Student Mahmoud Khalil, Separating Him from Family Thousands of Miles Away

A U.S. immigration judge ruled on Friday that Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University who took part in pro-Palestinian protests, can be deported.

Judge Jamee E. Comans in Louisiana determined that Khalil, a legal U.S. resident, could be removed from the country on national security grounds. The ruling followed legal arguments over the basis for deporting the activist, who had been involved in demonstrations critical of Israel.

Khalil is currently held at an immigration detention facility in Jena, Louisiana—far from both his legal team and his wife, a U.S. citizen who is expecting to give birth soon.

His attorneys plan to appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals in the coming weeks. “So nothing is going to happen quickly,” his lawyer Marc Van Der Hout told the Associated Press.

Federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil last month, marking the first detention under President Donald Trump’s campaign targeting students involved in campus protests against the Gaza war.

During the immigration hearing in Jena, Judge Comans ruled that the government had provided "clear and convincing evidence" that Khalil could be deported, citing his presence as a potential threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.

In response, Khalil addressed the court, reminding the judge of her earlier statement from that week: "there’s nothing more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness."

"Clearly, what happened today lacked both due process and fairness," Khalil said. "This is exactly why the Trump administration brought me to court—1,000 miles away from my family."

His attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, also condemned the proceedings. “Today, we witnessed our worst fears come true: Mahmoud was denied a fair hearing, subjected to a mockery of due process, and targeted through immigration laws to silence dissent,” he said in a statement.

Khalil’s legal team is also contesting the legality of his detention, arguing that the Trump administration is using it as a means to suppress free speech, which is protected under the First Amendment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a seldom-used law that allows for the deportation of individuals deemed to pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” to the U.S. in order to justify Mahmoud Khalil’s removal.

At Friday’s court session, Khalil’s attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, pushed back, arguing that the evidence presented by the government showed that the deportation was not truly about foreign policy—but rather an attempt to punish Khalil for exercising his right to free speech.

Who is Mahmoud Khalil?

Khalil, 30, was born in Palestine and later grew up in Syria after his grandparents were displaced from their home in Tiberias. A graduate student in international affairs, he has not been accused of breaking any laws during the Columbia University protests. He acted as a negotiator and spokesperson for the students who occupied part of the campus to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza last spring.