A Louisiana immigration judge on Friday set back Mahmoud Khalil’s legal battle to remain in the U.S.
Judge Jamee Comans’ ruling that Khalil, 30, should be deported validates the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s interpretation of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, which posits that Khalil’s green card status doesn’t protect him from the “potentially serious foreign policy consequences” of his activism.
The U.S. prosecution of Khali, Comans noted, “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable.”
According to the AP, Khalil’s attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, said he would appeal Comans’ ruling to the Board of Immigration Appeals within weeks.
“Today, we saw our worst fears play out: Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing, and a weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent,” Van Der Hout said in a statement quoted by the AP.
In the meantime, Khalil’s attorneys are arguing in a New Jersey federal court that the Palestinian immigrant raised in Syria’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was detained. The attorneys also allege Khalil was arrested without a warrant.
The federal judge has ordered Khalil to remain in the U.S. until the case is resolved.
Comans, on the other hand, noted that federal immigration judges are employed by the U.S. Justice Department, and their authority doesn’t allow consideration of constitutional issues.
Khalil, a Columbia graduate student studying international affairs, was the face of the pro-Palestine protests on campus. Those protests were noted for several blatant incidents of antisemitism, which prompted President Donald Trump to issue several executive orders to curtail anti-Jewish sentiments, often of a violent and hateful nature, on college campuses.
Khalil was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security on March 8 for allegedly violating Trump’s EOs.
The Columbia protests resulted in the Trump administration canceling $400 million in research grants to the university.
