An immigration judge in Louisiana has ordered pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., deported to Syria or Algeria for failing to disclose certain information on his green card application, according to documents filed in federal court Wednesday by his lawyers.
Khalil’s lawyers suggested in a filing that they intend to appeal the deportation order, but expressed concern that the appeal process will likely be swift and unfavorable.
The order from the immigration judge, Jamee Comans, came despite a separate order in Khalil’s federal case in New Jersey blocking his deportation while that court considers Khalil’s legal argument that his detention and deportation are unlawful retaliation for his Palestinian advocacy.
Khalil’s March 8 arrest and subsequent detention in Louisiana was part of the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on foreign-born pro-Palestinian academics who were studying or working in the U.S. legally. Khalil, a former Columbia graduate student who helped organize campus protests, was arrested at his Manhattan residence and put into deportation proceedings. He has not been charged with a crime.
In a letter to the New Jersey federal judge, Michael Farbiarz, Khalil’s lawyers said they have 30 days from Sept. 12, the date of the immigration judge’s ruling, to appeal her decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The lawyers said they expect that process to be “swift” and that an appeal of the BIA decision, which would go to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, is unlikely to be successful, since, they wrote, the appeals court “almost never” grants stays of removal to noncitizens.
“As a result,” they wrote, “the only meaningful impediment to Petitioner’s physical removal from the United States would be this Court’s important order prohibiting removal during the pendency of his federal habeas case.” And, they wrote, “nothing would preserve his lawful permanent resident status.”
In a statement, Khalil, a Palestinian originally from Syria, accused the Trump administration of using “fascist tactics.”
“It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech. Their latest attempt, through a kangaroo immigration court, exposes their true colors once again,” Khalil said.
For more than three months earlier this year, Khalil was held in detention in Louisiana after the Trump administration arrested him, invoking a rarely used provision of immigration law that allows the government to deport any noncitizen — even a legal resident — if the secretary of State determines that the person’s continued presence harms U.S. foreign policy interests.
In June, Farbiarz, a Biden appointee, blocked the Trump administration from deporting Khalil on foreign policy grounds. Days later, the judge ordered Khalil’s release after determining that he was not a flight risk or danger to the community.
That allowed him to return to New York, where he was reunited with his wife, a U.S. citizen, and his newborn son, who was born during his detention.
The Trump administration, however, has continued to seek Khalil’s deportation via another rationale it tacked on after his arrest in Manhattan: that when he applied for a green card, he failed to disclose all his past employment and membership in certain organizations.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated the date of Khalil’s arrest.
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