The Trump administration accused Columbia University student and anti-Israeli protester Mahmoud Khalil of failing to disclose employment with the UN Palestinian relief agency regarding visa applications, claiming the omission is justified.
Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a US citizen, was arrested by immigrants and customs enforcement officers on March 8th. In a court summary on Sunday, the US government outlined the argument that Khalil will be detained while his removal proceedings continue.
The department says that Khalil was fraudulently applied to change immigrant status without fully revealing “membership of a particular organization.”
The video shows the arrest of Colombian anti-Israel ring leader Mahmoud Khalil
Mahmoud Khalil is said to have played a major role in Columbia University's protests against Israel. (Ted Shaffrey, file)
Among those organizations were the UN Relief and Workplace Organizations for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). The relief agency was notoriously stripped of tens of millions of dollars in federal funding after Israel alleged that 12 people had taken part in Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel in 2023. The DOJ says that Khalil did not reveal that from June 2023 to nov from nov.
The DOJ also says that when Khalil applied for a visa or when he was a member of Columbia University Apartheid Dibust (CUAD), which led anti-Israel protests at the Ivy League facility, he refused to reveal that he was working at the Syrian office of the British Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
The DOJ said on Sunday that the fact that he allegedly lied to his application provided a “independent base” to force him, and invalidated his right to free speech.
“Regardless of his claims regarding political speech, Halil withheld membership in certain organizations and did not disclose continued employment by the Syrian embassy of the British Embassy in Beirut. “It is black law that does not protect speeches.”
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“Therefore, Khalil's initial amendment claim is Red Herring, and there is an independent basis to justify the removal sufficient to seize Hhalil's constitutional claim here,” they said.
Students march at Columbia University campus to support protest camps supporting Palestinians, despite a 2pm deadline issued for university officials to dissolve or face face during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Muslim group Hamas. (Reuters/David Diedelgado)
Halil, a Syrian native and Algerian citizen, entered the United States on a student visa in 2022 and later applied to become a permanent resident in 2024.
He is the first of the Trump administration's crusades to revoke student visas to participate in the protest.
On March 12, 2025, people will demonstrate outside the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Court on the day of hearings on the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, USA. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on university campuses following the attack on October 7, 2023, leading to President Donald Trump's campaign promise to cancel foreign student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who participated in the jihadist protests, we have notified you: Come in 2025, we will find you, and we will expel you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel all Hamas sympathizer student visas on university campus.
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Fox News Digital contacted Khalil's attorney, Marc van der Hout, for comments.
