The Trump administration has sought to deport Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil for leading the pro-Palestinian protests and sit-ins at the Ivy League institution.
Attorneys for former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil are set to take on the Trump administration in a New Jersey courtroom Friday as the president’s team fights to deport the anti-Israel activist.
There will be a hearing in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, at 10 a.m. before Judge Michael E. Farbiarz. New York Judge Jesse Furman transferred the case to New Jersey, where Khalil was in custody when his attorneys filed their original writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention.
Khalil has since been moved to Louisiana, though, where the Trump administration wants the case to play out.
Khalil, who holds legal permanent resident status in the U.S., came under the administration’s wrath for his alleged support of Hamas terrorists in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2022 attack on Israel. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a post on X earlier this month.
The DHS alleged in a Sunday filing in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey that Khalil 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.
“It is black-letter law that misrepresentations in this context are not protected speech,” the filing said. “Thus, Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring.”
Marc Van Der Hout, one of Khalil’s lawyers, and Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, released statements in a series of Instagram posts. They characterized Khalil as a “political prisoner detained at an ICE facility in Louisiana.”
Khalil’s lawyers have argued that his support for Palestinians is protected by free speech and that the administration’s deportation efforts are an effort to prevent his “current and future speech” and to deter others from doing the same.
“The Policy, including as-applied to Mr. Khalil, does not give the proper notice to anyone residing in the country which of their otherwise-lawful speech, opinions, beliefs, or advocacy will result in the government targeting them for detention and removal, and it provides government officials with unfettered discretion to target disfavored speech,” the lawyers wrote.
His lawyers also noted that the administration does not define who qualifies as a “Hamas supporter.” They say that there is no clarity on Khalil’s activities that are “aligned to Hamas.”
A federal judge in the Southern District of New York blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Khalil on March 10.
VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL
On March 18, Khalil wrote: “In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all. Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.”
Khalil, a native of Syria and citizen of Algeria, entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and later filed to become a permanent resident in 2024.
He is the first target in the Trump administration’s crusade to revoke student visas for participating in protests.
WATCH MAHMOUD KHALIL’S ARREST:
Khalil’s arrest comes after President Donald Trump issued a Jan. 29 executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism” which mandates colleges “report activities by alien students and staff” on the grounds of antisemitism.
COLUMBIA STUDENT CLAIMS CLASSMATE ARRESTED BY ICE ‘HATES AMERICA’
The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, leading to Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreigners’ student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
DHS and ICE did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Khalil is represented by Amy Greer from Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Alina Das, co-director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University School of Law. Fox News Digital has reached out for comment.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
