WASHINGTON (Palestine Foundation Information Center) A US court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed with the deportation of Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested in New York City last month.
Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana said she had no authority to overturn a decision regarding Khalil made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.
Rubio determined that Khalil should be deported because his presence in the US has “potentially serious foreign policy consequences.”
The judge’s decision is not the final say on whether Khalil will be deported. In a separate New Jersey federal court case, the US District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz stayed the deportation to consider Khalil’s claim that his March 8 arrest violates the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Khalil holds Algerian citizenship and became a legal permanent resident of the United States last year. His wife, Nour Abdallah, is a US citizen as well.
Khalil is a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that rocked the Columbia University campus in New York City.
The US President Donald Trump is seeking to deport pro-Palestinian students living in the United States.
