A Judge Has Ordered Mahmoud Khalil Be Deported to Either Algeria or Syria

The first eight months of the Trump administration have not been kind to Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil, an activist and Columbia graduate student who led pro-Palestinian protests on the campus, was detained by ICE in the early days of the administration. Now, CBS is reporting that a federal judge has ordered that Khalil be deported to either Algeria or Syria.

Following the news that Khalil was ordered to be deported, many naturally wanted to know why the judge had ordered that Khalil be deported. Here's what we know.

The order first came to light as part of court filings filed on Khalil's behalf on Sept. 17. In the filings, Khalil alleges that the Trump administration detained him for months and sought to deport him as part of a wider policy designed to punish foreign students for protesting Israel's conduct. The Trump administration has argued that Khalil is guilty of "hateful behavior and rhetoric."

On Sept. 12, Louisiana-based immigration Judge Jamee Comans denied Khalil's motion for a waiver that would have prevented his removal from the U.S. because he allegedly misrepresented his background on his green card paperwork. Comans then ordered Khalil be deported to either Algeria, where he is a citizen, or Syria, where he was born. Khalil now has 30 days to appeal that decision, and if he loses, he will be forced to leave the country.

In a statement on Sept. 17, Khalil's legal team argued that Judge Comans "rushed to a decision without providing a hearing on the evidence as due process requires, engaging in multiple procedural irregularities."

"It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech," Khalil added in a statement. "Their latest attempt, through a kangaroo immigration court, exposes their true colors once again."

This latest order is just one chapter in an ongoing saga that stretches back to March, when he was first detained by immigration agents in New York. He was one of several protesters detained for their pro-Palestinian activity on campus, activity with the Trump administration alleges is rife with antisemitism.

The government has also argued that Khalil represented himself on his green card application, failing to disclose membership to a United Nations agency that works with Palestinians and his "continuing employment" at the British Embassy in Lebanon.

Comans's ruling seemed to suggest that these failures to disclose relevant information meant that Khalil was not entitled to a waiver that would prevent him from being deported.

"This Court finds that Respondent's lack of candor on his [immigration forms] was not an oversight by an uninformed, uneducated applicant," the judge wrote. "Rather, this Court finds that Respondent willfully misrepresented material fact(s) for the sole purpose of circumventing the immigration process and reducing the likelihood his application would be denied."

Khalil, who has an American wife and a child born in the U.S., is still working to appeal the ruling.