Removal Order Issued for Mahmoud Khalil as Immigration Appeals Board Rejects Bid To Dismiss

The federal government cleared another hurdle in its effort to deport anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil after a Board of Immigration Appeals on Thursday denied his legal team’s bid to dismiss the case and issued a final order of removal.Mr. Khalil’s lawyers, who publicized the ruling, condemned it as “biased and politically motivated.” Though the decision marks a victory for the Trump administration, Mr. Khalil cannot be detained or deported while his habeas corpus case continues in federal court.Mr. Khalil, who was born in Syria but holds Algerian citizenship, was arrested by immigration officers in March after the State Department revoked his visa and green card. The 31-year-old graduated in December with a master’s degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and served as one of the ringleaders of the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student encampment movement that roiled Columbia after October 7, 2023.The state department initially justified the administration’s deportation of Mr. Khalil by calling up a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows the government to deport non-citizens who pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” The government also argued that Mr. Khalil committed immigration fraud by lying on his green card application about his employment history, namely his involvement in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a UN group accused of aiding Hamas and employing people who participated in the October 7 massacre.The Board of Immigration Appeals cited both charges in its ruling.Mr. Khalil suffered a separate setback in federal court in January, when a three-judge appeals panel reversed a lower court decision that had freed him from immigration detention. His legal team is now asking the full appeals panel to reconsider.Since his release in June, Mr. Khalil has resumed his anti-Israel activism, embarking on a press tour, appearing at pro-Palestinian protests, and meeting with sympathetic politicians including Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Recently he sat down with a left wing, Jewish daily newspaper, the Forward, in an apparent bid to reassure Jewish critics that his mission is simply “to liberate everyone.”However, the interview appeared to persuade few. Mr. Khalil at times contradicted his ostensibly moderate posture and minimized the documented atrocities Hamas committed on October 7. At one point, he expressed uncertainty about whether Hamas deliberately targeted civilians — despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary — saying, “I wouldn’t rule out that Hamas targeted civilians, but I wouldn’t confirm it either.”

Removal Order Issued for Mahmoud Khalil as Immigration Appeals Board Rejects Bid To Dismiss

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