NATIONAL NEWS – Louisiana judge rules that student activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported for pro-Palestinian protests

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported. Khalil was a Columbia University graduate student who led pro-Palestinian protests in 2024. Khalil was detained last month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Khalil of engaging in “antisemitic protest and disruptive activism, which foster a hostile environment for Jewish students in the U.S.” 

In a 2-page memo submitted to the court, Rubio detailed that on March 7th, he was informed about Khalil from the Department of Homeland Security and as a result, he determined that allowing Khalil to remain in the country would undermine a U.S. foreign policy goal of combating antisemitism around the world. During the hearing, Judge Jamee Comans said that she had no authority to question Rubio’s decision.