A US immigration judge has ordered the deportation of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to either Algeria or Syria, ruling that he misrepresented information on his green card application. The decision, delivered by Judge Jamee Comans in Louisiana, has sparked controversy and raised questions over political retaliation against activists in the United States.
Judge Comans stated that Khalil had “wilfully misrepresented material facts for the sole purpose of circumventing the immigration process.” Khalil, however, maintains his innocence, insisting the ruling is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to punish him for his outspoken support of Palestine. In a statement through the American Civil Liberties Union, he said: “It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech.”
Khalil, 30, a permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, rose to prominence during the 2024 Gaza war protests at Columbia University, where he studied. He played a visible role as a mediator between university officials and student activists, though he has denied being a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a group that called for the school to sever financial ties with Israel.
His lawyers have vowed to appeal the deportation order, noting that federal court injunctions remain in place preventing his detention or removal. Earlier this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Khalil for three months in Louisiana before a federal judge ordered his release, ruling that he posed no flight risk or threat to the community. During his detention, his wife, a US citizen, gave birth to their first child.
The government alleges that Khalil omitted details of his previous associations, including ties to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and employment at the British Embassy in Beirut. Prosecutors argue that these omissions undermine the integrity of his immigration filings, while his defense team describes them as “fabricated and baseless claims” designed to silence a prominent activist.
In June, Khalil’s legal team filed a $20 million lawsuit against the US government, citing false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and defamation. The suit alleges that he has been unfairly branded as antisemitic, a label his supporters say is part of a broader attempt to discredit pro-Palestinian voices on US campuses.
President Trump has repeatedly singled out Khalil and others, accusing pro-Palestinian activists of supporting Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group. He described Khalil’s arrest as “the first of many to come” in what his administration called a crackdown on universities accused of tolerating antisemitism.
With an appeal now underway, Khalil’s case remains at the intersection of US immigration law, freedom of speech, and the politics of the Middle East. For many of his supporters, the outcome will signal how far the US government is willing to go in policing activism on American soil.
