Immigration judge issues order to deport Mahmoud Khalil to Algeria or Syria

( Just the News )

An immigration judge in Louisiana has issued an order that immigrant and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil be deported to Algeria or Syria, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The order was made Friday by Judge Jamee Comans in denying Khalil's motion for a waiver preventing his removal from the U.S., according to NBC News. 

Comans said she made the decision because Khalil omitted information from his green card application, the news outlet also reports.

Khalil was arrested and detained in March in New York by federal immigration agents following his participation in pro-Palestinian protests in 2024 on the campus of the Ivy League university. 

The president wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, at the time of the arrest that his administration "will not tolerate" what he said were "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American" activity on college campuses across the country. He also said Khalil is "pro-Hamas" and that his administration would "find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country."

Khalil was released from detention in June. 

Khalil's attorneys said they have 30 days from the order Friday to appeal Judge Comee's decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Comee stated in the order that the court issued a written decision June 20 denying Khalil’s application for asylum and ordered he be removed to Algeria and Syria, NBC also reports. 

Comee said the court in that ruling found Khalil in his applications for lawful permanent resident status "willfully misrepresented material fact(s) for the sole purpose of circumventing the immigration process and reducing the likelihood his applications could be denied. This Court cannot and will not condone such an action by granting a discretionary waiver."

In a statement obtained by NBC News, Khalil said: “It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech. Their latest attempt, through a kangaroo immigration court, exposes their true colors once again.”