Columbia University anti-Zionist protest leader Mahmoud Khalil will likely be deported to Algeria, a US official says.
The Trump administration arrested Khalil last year during its crackdown on campus activists in the US.
Khalil’s legal team has waged a legal battle against his deportation, but an appeals court last week ruled in favor of the administration, bringing authorities a step closer to detaining and deporting Khalil.
Following that ruling, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin says Khalil will likely be deported.
“It looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now,” McLaughlin tells NewsNation.
“It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a Green Card. You are a guest in this country; act like it,” McLaughlin says. “It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study.”
Khalil is a permanent US resident, but not a citizen. He was born in Syria to a Palestinian family, but holds Algerian citizenship.
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