US immigration judge to decide whether Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil can be deported

Jonathan Allen - Reuters - 11/04
A U.S. immigration judge will rule on Friday whether the government can deport Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil, a month after he was arrested at his Columbia University apartment building and transferred to a Louisiana jail.
  • Khalil's lawyers argue deportation targets protected speech under U.S. Constitution
  • Khalil's case tests Trump's efforts to deport pro-Palestinian students
  • Rubio says Khalil's presence in U.S. has adverse foreign policy impact
JENA, Louisiana, April 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. immigration judge will rule on Friday whether the government can deport Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil, a month after he was arrested at his Columbia University apartment building and transferred to a Louisiana jail.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Khalil, a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that has roiled Columbia's New York City campus, should be removed because his presence in the U.S. has "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences," citing the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.

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Khalil's case is the most high-profile test of efforts by President Donald Trump, a Republican, to deport foreign pro-Palestinian students who are in the U.S. legally and, like Khalil, have not been charged with any crime.
Khalil, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and holds Algerian citizenship, became a U.S. lawful permanent resident last year.
His lawyers have complained they are being rushed to review the evidence that the government submitted on Wednesday on the orders of Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Im...
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