US judge allows Mahmoud Khalil's deportation, cites national security risk

An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the US, citing national security risk linked to his participation in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

Immigration Judge Jamee E Comans stated that the US government provided "clear and convincing evidence" that Khalil's presence in the country could cause "potentially serious foreign policy consequences," meeting the legal threshold for removal.

The ruling comes after Khalil's arrest on March 8 by federal immigration agents in the lobby of his university-owned apartment. 30-year-old Khalil, a legal US resident, was taken into custody and flown to an immigration detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, far from his legal team and his wife, a US citizen expecting their first child.

Khalil's arrest was part of President Trump's broader crackdown on Palestinian activists and students who joined anti-Israel protests and raised their voices against the war in Gaza. His legal team denounced the decision, calling the proceedings a violation of due process. Attorney Marc Van Der Hout said the hearing was "a charade of due process" and an example of immigration law being "weaponized to suppress dissent."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a rarely-used law to support Khalil's deportation, citing that it grants him authority to remove individuals who may cause "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."