A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled the deportation of Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil to either Algeria or alternatively Syria, stating that he failed to provide complete necessary details on his green card application, as per court records.
Appeal Response and Court Order
Khalil’s attorneys announced they plan to challenge the removal order and emphasized that a federal court’s separate orders currently prohibit the government from right away deporting or detaining him while his civil rights case continues.
“It is no surprise that the government continues to act against me for exercising my right to free speech,” he commented in a response. “This latest effort, through a unjust immigration court, exposes their true colors yet again.”
Court’s Finding and Rationale
The decision dated 12 September asserted that the lack of complete reporting on Khalil’s application “was not an error by an uninformed applicant … rather, this court finds that the defendant intentionally falsified material fact(s).”
Immigration Judge Jamee Comans wrote: “This order hereby further decreed that the individual be removed from the United States to Algeria, or alternatively to Syria.”
Background and Recent Events
The activist, a legal permanent resident of the United States who is wed to a US national and has a US-born son, was detained for 90 days starting in March and confronted possible removal. His wife was expecting at the time, and Khalil missed the delivery of their child while in jail.
A former Columbia University student and one of the most visible leaders of countrywide pro-Palestinian university protests, Khalil was freed from custody in June but has experienced ongoing risk of deportation from federal authorities.
Political Backdrop
The administration has cracked down on pro-Palestine activists such as Khalil, calling them antisemitic and supporters of radicalism.
Protest organizations, some of which are Jewish groups, argue that criticism of Israel’s actions on Gaza and its control of Palestinian territories does not constitute antisemitism, and that advocacy for Palestinians is not endorsement for violent extremism.
