Deporting Mahmoud Khalil for political views likely unconstitutional: US judge

A federal judge has raised serious constitutional concerns about the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a legal US resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University.

Judge Michael Farbiarz said in a ruling on Wednesday that the effort to remove Khalil over his campus activism was likely unconstitutional, as reported by The Associated Press. However, the judge declined to release Khalil from detention, citing unresolved issues with his immigration paperwork.

Khalil was arrested on March 8 by immigration agents in the lobby of his university-owned apartment and later transferred to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, far from his legal team and his wife, a US citizen who gave birth to their child while he was in custody.

His detention marked the first under President Donald Trump's expanded crackdown on student demonstrators protesting Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

The government claims Khalil failed to disclose certain personal information in his green card application. While Judge Farbiarz found that Khalil’s legal team hadn’t adequately addressed this point, he also sharply criticized a separate deportation order issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio invoked a rarely-used law citing “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” to justify Khalil’s removal. The judge warned that this could lead to “arbitrary enforcement” and is likely unconstitutional.

Khalil’s lawyers argue his arrest and detention are part of a broader campaign to silence political dissent. The judge has said he will issue guidance on the next steps in the coming days. However, the State Department has not responded to inquiries about the case.

Khalil, a Palestinian-American and permanent US resident with a green card, was raised in a refugee camp in Syria and has had a varied professional journey, including a position at the British Embassy in Beirut.

He graduated from Columbia University’s School of and Public Affairs in December of last year. Khalil played a prominent role as the lead negotiator for the Columbia University Arab Delegation (CUAD) and was actively involved in the Gaza solidarity encampment held on campus last spring, where dozens of tents were set up in protest.

(With inputs from Associated Press)