An immigration appeals board on Thursday denied Mahmoud Khalil’s latest bid to dismiss his deportation case, a largely expected ruling that advances the Trump administration’s effort to remove the former Columbia University graduate student from the United States.
The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final order of removal Thursday evening, according to Khalil’s lawyers. The board’s rulings are not public, and the Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
Khalil said he was not surprised by the decision, which he called “biased and politically motivated.” His attorneys said he cannot be lawfully detained or deported while a separate federal habeas case remains unresolved.
“The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine — and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it,” Khalil said in a statement provided by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ruling ends Khalil’s options within the immigration court system and clears the way for deportation. However, it does not resolve the parallel federal court case that is now central to whether that deportation can proceed.
A federal judge in New Jersey previously barred the Trump administration from detaining or deporting Khalil while his habeas petition moves forward. Although a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel previously found that the district court lacked jurisdiction to weigh his habeas petition, Khalil has asked the full appeals court to reconsider the panel’s decision.
The Board of Immigration Appeals operates within the DOJ and sets binding precedent across the immigration system.
Khalil, a 31-year-old legal permanent resident, became one of the first publicly known targets of the administration’s crackdown on noncitizens involved in anti-Israel campus protests. He was arrested on March 8 last year after the State Department determined his presence in the U.S. was a threat to foreign policy.
After his arrest, Khalil spent more than 100 days in immigration detention before a federal judge ordered his release.
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The Trump administration has argued Khalil’s conduct justified removal, pointing to his role in demonstrations it says contributed to a hostile environment for Jewish students and conflicted with U.S. foreign policy priorities. A determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded his presence could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Officials have also alleged Khalil failed to disclose prior work with a U.N. agency when applying for his green card, providing a separate basis for removal. Khalil denies wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
