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The Trump administration has made serious allegations against Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University and participant in anti-Israel demonstrations, claiming he failed to disclose his employment with a United Nations agency on his visa application. This failure is cited as grounds for potential deportation.
Khalil, who is 30 years old and holds a green card, is married to a U.S. citizen. He was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8. A court document submitted by the U.S. government outlines the rationale for holding Khalil in custody as his removal proceedings unfold.
The government contends that Khalil made a fraudulent application for a change in his immigration status by not fully revealing his connections to specific organizations, which the authorities argue could lead to his deportation. Among these organizations is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which recently faced significant funding reductions after allegations linked its personnel to the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated that Khalil did not disclose his role as a political officer with UNRWA from June 2023 to November 2023.
Furthermore, the DOJ claims that Khalil failed to inform authorities about his work at the British embassy’s Syria office in Beirut and his membership in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, which has led several protests against Israel.
In response to these allegations, the DOJ stated that Khalil’s purported misrepresentations on his immigration application offer a valid reason for his deportation, which takes precedence over any claims of free speech rights. The DOJ emphasized that any misleading information in immigration contexts is not considered protected speech.
Khalil’s supporters argue that his First Amendment rights are being infringed upon, but the DOJ contends that such claims do not negate the independent legal reasons for his possible removal.
As a Syrian native and Algerian citizen, Khalil entered the United States on a student visa in 2022 and began the process to seek permanent residency in 2024. His situation marks a significant moment in the Trump administration’s focus on terminating student visas in response to protests.
The wave of anti-Israel protests that gained momentum following the October 7 attacks has sparked promises from Trump to take action against non-citizens participating in such demonstrations. In a statement, Trump warned that those who engage in pro-jihadist protests would face deportation, emphasizing his administration’s intent to cancel student visas for anyone perceived as sympathetic to Hamas or radical ideologies on college campuses.
The developments surrounding Khalil have prompted commentary and discussion among students and activists, impacting the climate on university grounds nationwide. Supporters of Khalil have organized demonstrations and voiced their opinions outside courthouses, demonstrating the tensions that his case has provoked within the academic community.
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