Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil will be deported to Algeria, Trump Administration officials stated.
Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight" program yesterday (Wednesday) that "it looks like [Khalil will] go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now. It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country - act like it."
McLaughlin's statement comes a week after the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Khalil's lawsuit against his detention and deportation, ruling 2-1 that judges do not have jurisdiction over the deportation.
Khalil, a former Columbia University student who organized anti-Israel protests on campus, made national headlines last year when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March for allegedly posing a threat to national security. He was released in late June after a judge ruled that his detention was unconstitutional.
Despite this setback, the Trump administration continued its efforts to deport Khalil, adding a new rationale to the case: that he failed to disclose his full employment history and membership in certain organizations when he applied for his green card.
The controversial activist faced widespread condemnation for his defense of the October 7, 2023 massacre that ignited the Israel-Hamas War. In an interview with the New York Times on August 6, he bizarrely attempted to justify the massacre as a “desperate attempt" by Hamas to “just break the cycle" of Palestinian Arab suffering. He also refused to describe the attack as a “mistake," while acknowledging that “targeting civilians is wrong."
On September 12, an immigration judge in Louisiana ordered the deportation of Khalil to either Syria or Algeria.