Judge Orders Deportation of Mahmoud Khalil

A federal immigration judge has ordered Mahmoud Khalil deported to either Algeria or Syria after ruling he hid information on his U.S. green card application.

Judge Jamee Comans issued the Sept. 12 decision in Louisiana and said that Khalil did not disclose his internship with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and ties with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, an anti-Israel campus coalition.

Court filings unsealed Wednesday and published by the American Civil Liberties Union also show Coman cited the activism ties as central to her ruling.

She denied Khalil’s motion for relief, writing that the omissions were deliberate and constituted grounds for removal.

Federal authorities argue that Khalil’s misrepresentations involved politically sensitive affiliations, raising both national security and foreign policy concerns.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 8 at his Manhattan apartment.

He spent more than three months in detention in Louisiana before being released in June, when U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled he was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the public.

Farbiarz also temporarily blocked Khalil’s removal while reviewing his claim that the government’s actions amounted to retaliation for protected political speech.

Khalil’s legal team confirmed Wednesday that they plan to appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. They framed the case as a broader civil rights battle.

"It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech," Khalil said in a statement. "Their latest attempt, through a kangaroo immigration court, exposes their true colors once again."