US judge says administration’s deportation case against Mahmoud Khalil can move forward

JENA, Louisiana — A US immigration judge rules that President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed with its deportation case against Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested in New York City last month.

Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana says she lacked the authority to overrule a decision concerning Khalil that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made last month under a 1952 law called the Immigration and Nationality Act. Rubio determined that Khalil should be removed because his presence in the United States has “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”

The judge’s decision is not the final say over whether Khalil will be deported. In a separate case in New Jersey federal court, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz has blocked deportation while he considers Khalil’s claim that his March 8 arrest was made in violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech.