How fast can he get deported? Or do they have to wait for appeals ?
An immigration judge has ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the United States due to his involvement in leading last year’s pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
Judge Jamee Comans ruled in Louisiana on Friday that Khalil, 30, can be deported, saying that the U.S. government met its burden of proof to remove him.
"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 team of attorneys have until April 23 to file relief applications.
During the hearing Friday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorneys also spoke about how Khalil misrepresented himself on his green card application. DHS attorneys said that Khalil was not upfront about some of the organizations he is involved with.
Khalil, they said, willfully failed to disclose his employment with the Syrian office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he applied for permanent U.S. residency.
Federal officials alleged that Khalil was "inadmissible at the time of his adjustment" because of "fraud or willful misrepresentation of material fact" in his status application.
The agency also accused Khalil of failing to disclose his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
Following the ruling, Khalil's immigration attorney, Sabrine Mohamah, called the decision "unjust as it is alarming."
"This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and a dangerous precedent for anyone who believes in free speech and political expression," she said.
"Mahmood is currently imprisoned in Louisiana, a state that detains over 7000 people daily and serves as the second-largest hub for immigration detention in the US. Louisiana's nine detention centers, eight of which are privately operated, include the only Ice facility in the country directly connected to an airport, thus streamlining mass deportations across the state."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also weighed in on the ruling, saying that the Columbia University graduate "hates America."
"It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country," she said. "Good riddance."
On Tuesday, Comans ordered the federal government to provide evidence by Wednesday justifying its attempt to deport Khalil.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded on behalf of the government in a roughly one-and-a-half-page letter sent to the court on Wednesday. He cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to justify Khalil's removal from the U.S.
The provision allows the Secretary of State to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the U.S. "would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences."
www.foxnews.com
An immigration judge has ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the United States due to his involvement in leading last year’s pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
Judge Jamee Comans ruled in Louisiana on Friday that Khalil, 30, can be deported, saying that the U.S. government met its burden of proof to remove him.
"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 team of attorneys have until April 23 to file relief applications.
During the hearing Friday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorneys also spoke about how Khalil misrepresented himself on his green card application. DHS attorneys said that Khalil was not upfront about some of the organizations he is involved with.
Khalil, they said, willfully failed to disclose his employment with the Syrian office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he applied for permanent U.S. residency.
Federal officials alleged that Khalil was "inadmissible at the time of his adjustment" because of "fraud or willful misrepresentation of material fact" in his status application.
The agency also accused Khalil of failing to disclose his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and membership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
Following the ruling, Khalil's immigration attorney, Sabrine Mohamah, called the decision "unjust as it is alarming."
"This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and a dangerous precedent for anyone who believes in free speech and political expression," she said.
"Mahmood is currently imprisoned in Louisiana, a state that detains over 7000 people daily and serves as the second-largest hub for immigration detention in the US. Louisiana's nine detention centers, eight of which are privately operated, include the only Ice facility in the country directly connected to an airport, thus streamlining mass deportations across the state."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also weighed in on the ruling, saying that the Columbia University graduate "hates America."
"It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country," she said. "Good riddance."
On Tuesday, Comans ordered the federal government to provide evidence by Wednesday justifying its attempt to deport Khalil.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded on behalf of the government in a roughly one-and-a-half-page letter sent to the court on Wednesday. He cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to justify Khalil's removal from the U.S.
The provision allows the Secretary of State to deport noncitizens if the secretary determines their presence in the U.S. "would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences."
Columbia anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, judge rules
An immigration judge has ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the U.S. due to his involvement in leading last year’s pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
www.foxnews.com
