Judge Rules That Rubio Can Deport Columbia Student

NPR reports:

A Louisiana immigration judge has ruled that Mahmoud Khalil can be deported.

Khalil, who as a Columbia University graduate student led pro-Palestinian protests there last year, was detained last month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had determined that Khalil’s activism was antisemitic and that allowing him to remain in the country would undermine a U.S. foreign policy goal of combatting antisemitism around the world.

In a hearing Friday at the remote Louisiana detention center where Khalil is being held, Judge Jamee Comans said she had no authority to question Rubio’s determination.

Read the full article. Yesterday Rubio wrote in a memo to the court that while Kahlil’s activism was “otherwise lawful,” his beliefs about Israel’s policies mean that he cannot stay in the country.

After the judges ruling, Khalil stood up to say in part: There’s nothing more important than due process and fundamental fairness. Neither were present today. This is why the Trump administration sent me here.. @wwltv pic.twitter.com/Gdj6eSRemt

— Charisse Gibson (@OkayCharisse) April 11, 2025

BREAKING: An immigration judge has ruled that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the U.S.

Khalil, a leader of the encampment protests at Columbia last spring, was detained on March 8.
https://t.co/jwo7fBPmtp pic.twitter.com/KYdSiAk5xz

— ABC News (@ABC) April 11, 2025