An immigration judge ruled on Friday that Mahmoud Khalil – who was detained over his actions leading anti-Israel protests at Columbia University — can be deported, giving him until April 23 to appeal the decision.
Judge Jamee Comans gave the ruling in a Louisiana court, declaring that the federal government had met the necessary burden of proof to justify removing Khalil from the country.
Judge Comans had requested such proof from the United States government by Wednesday as he was considering the case, and had received a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio wrote that Khalil had led “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” he added, citing the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which gives the U.S. Secretary of State authorization to deport anyone whose continued presence in the country “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum gave the breaking news update during “The Story” on Friday afternoon, getting the live report from National Correspondent Brooke Taylor.
WATCH:
BREAKING: A judge rules that the Trump administration can move forward with deportation efforts for Mahmoud Khalil. | @brooketaylortv @marthamaccallum pic.twitter.com/JmAGnd3RPu
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 11, 2025
Khalil spoke after the ruling, complaining that President Donald Trump’s administration had specifically sent him to another jurisdiction to ensure that the ruling would not be fair.
“I would like to quote what you said last time that there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness. Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process,” he claimed.
“This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months,” he added.
