Mahmoud Khalil: Judge rules on whether US can deport pro-Palestinian student protester

Jena, Louisiana - An judge ruled Friday that a student protester – a US permanent resident detained by the Trump administration – can be deported, US media and a legal rights group said.

People hold signs as they attend a protest in support of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil while a hearing takes place outside the court in Newark, New Jersey on March 28, 2025. © KENA BETANCUR / AFP

Assistant Chief Immigration Jamee Comans said the government had met its burden to prove it had grounds to deport him, Fox News reported.

"An immigration judge ruled immediately after a hearing today that Mahmoud Khalil is removable under US immigration law," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

Khalil, a prominent face of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel's war in Gaza who is married to a US citizen, was and taken to Louisiana earlier this month, sparking protests.

Several other foreign student protesters have been similarly targeted.

Comans had ordered the government to spell out its case against Khalil, who the government is seeking to deport on the grounds that his protest activities are a threat to national security.

, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Khalil's activism could hurt Washington's foreign policy.

But he declined to argue formally that the Algeria-born Palestinian student was Hamas-aligned, as officials have told journalists.

The undated letter instead referred to Khalil's "participation and roles" in allegedly "anti-Semitic protests and disruptive activities which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States."

Mahmoud Khalil expressed his political point of view peacefully.  

That’s supposed to be permitted in a democracy.

If this egregious assault on civil liberties stands, what’s to stop Trump from arresting American citizens who support any cause his regime doesn’t like? pic.twitter.com/z7JDhA5FBl

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) April 11, 2025

An immigration judge has ruled that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the U.S.

Khalil's supporters held a press conference after the judge's decision.https://t.co/jwo7fBPUiX pic.twitter.com/YYAjob0i3t

— ABC News (@ABC) April 11, 2025

BREAKING: Per colleague @Brooketaylortv at the hearing, a federal immigration judge has ruled that Columbia pro Palestine activist Khalil Mahmoud is REMOVABLE and that the Trump administration has met its burden to deport him. Khalil has until 4/23 to file relief applications.

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 11, 2025

It made no reference to any alleged crime.

Ahead of the hearing, one of Khalil's lawyers Marc Van Der Hout said Thursday that he would "be contesting the evidence."