The lawyer of Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University and Gaza supporter who was detained for over three months before being released, announced that a U.S. immigration judge has ordered his deportation to Syria or Algeria.
اضافة اعلان
Khalil said in a statement: “It is not surprising that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for exercising my freedom of expression. Their latest attempt, through a sham immigration court, reveals their true nature once again.”
Khalil and his lawyers have pledged to fight the recent decision issued by the immigration judge in Louisiana, which paves the way for his deportation from the United States.
His lawyers are seeking assistance from U.S. District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz in New Jersey, who ruled in June that Khalil could not be detained or deported based on the Trump administration’s claim that his participation in protests harmed U.S. foreign policy.
The former Columbia student has applied for deportation relief, a measure typically granted to immigrants with U.S. citizen relatives and no criminal record.
Lawyer Baher Azmi, representing Khalil, wrote in a letter on Wednesday to Judge Farbiarz that the Louisiana immigration judge’s decision to deny relief without holding a hearing is “highly unusual.”
Khalil has 30 days from the issuance of the immigration court’s decision on September 12 to file an appeal, but his lawyers indicated they will seek relief from Judge Farbiarz. Khalil also has a pending case before a federal appellate court in Philadelphia.
In their letter to Farbiarz, Khalil’s lawyers stated that the administration’s efforts to deport him “pose a significant threat to the petitioner’s freedom, the safety of his family, and, if ultimately deported, his physical safety.”
Khalil was among the first targeted by Trump administration policies aimed at deporting students who participated in protests against the Israeli war on Gaza. His case has drawn strong objections from Palestinian supporters and civil rights advocates, who argued that the government conflates criticism of Israel with so-called anti-Semitism.
In June, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the Trump administration violated Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech and ordered his release on bond, but he continues to resist government attempts to deport him.
Despite obtaining judicial release, the administration continued its efforts to deport him due to alleged errors in his 2024 green card application.
—Agencies
