A man who helped organize anti-Israel protests at Columbia University is now facing deportation.

On Friday, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that 30-year-old Mahmoud Khalil can be removed from the United States. The decision followed a case that tied Khalil to both immigration misrepresentations and political activism connected to last year’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Fox News reports.

BREAKING: A federal immigration judge in Louisiana has ruled that the Trump administration can REMOVE Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Hamas activist and Columbia University graduate.

“An immigration judge has found Mahmoud Khalil removable.” pic.twitter.com/riVIN9Qu2o

— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) April 11, 2025

Judge Jamee Comans ruled the U.S. government met its burden of proof for removal.
“I would like to quote what you said last time that there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,” Khalil told the court. “Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process.

“This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months.”

Khalil’s lawyers have until April 23 to submit applications for relief.

BREAKING: A judge has ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported.

Bon voyage 🛫 pic.twitter.com/XLw6SfYr6a

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) April 11, 2025

The Department of Homeland Security argued Khalil was not truthful when applying for a green card. DHS attorneys claimed he hid past work for the Syrian office in the British Embassy in Beirut and did not disclose his role at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees or his membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

Officials said Khalil was “inadmissible at the time of his adjustment” due to “fraud or willful misrepresentation of material fact.”

Earlier in the week, Judge Comans told the government to submit legal justification for Khalil’s removal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded by citing a clause in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which lets the Secretary of State deport noncitizens if their presence is considered a threat to U.S. foreign policy.

Rubio accused Khalil of taking part in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”

“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” Rubio wrote.

Khalil’s legal team says the deportation is politically motivated and sets a dangerous precedent. They argue the law is being used in a sweeping way that targets free speech.

“President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio could apply it to any speech supporting Palestinian rights by any noncitizen. And the policy provides no standards or notice as to what specific statements might subject noncitizens to this unprecedented determination,” they wrote.

They also said the move could silence dissent:
“Many noncitizens across the country—including lawful permanent residents like Mr. Khalil—now live in fear that they will be next if their actual or imputed speech brings them into the crosshairs of this administration, and many are choosing to stay silent about their strongly-held beliefs,” the attorneys added.

Khalil is the first individual targeted under Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreign student visas over participation in anti-Israel protests after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks. DHS has accused him of leading activities aligned with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Khalil denies the charges and has defended himself publicly in a sharply worded op-ed titled “A letter to Columbia,” in which he accused the university of “laying the groundwork for my abduction.”