A U.S. immigration judge has ordered pro-Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil be deported to either Algeria or Syria, citing alleged misrepresentations on his green card application.
The ruling by Judge Jamee Comans, based in Jena, Louisiana, was issued last week but came to light on Wednesday in court filings submitted by Khalil’s lawyers.
The judge found Khalil had “willfully misrepresented material facts” in his application to adjust immigration status and denied his request for a waiver.
It is reported that the immigration judge observed that Khalil shouldn’t get discretion from the court because of the “gravity of his conduct.”
The judge called Khalil an intelligent, Ivy League-educated individual” who should’ve known disclosure was required. “This Court finds that the judge said the respondent’s lack of candour on his [immigration forms] was not an oversight by an uninformed, uneducated applicant,” the judge wrote.
“Rather, this Court finds that Respondent willfully misrepresented material fact(s) for the sole purpose of circumventing the immigration process and reducing the likelihood his application would be denied.”
Khalil, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March before being released in June, has been at the centre of a years-long legal battle that began under the Trump administration.
Khalil’s lawyers said they plan to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals within 30 days. They also stressed that a separate federal court order continues to block his immediate removal while his habeas corpus case proceeds in New Jersey.
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