The Trump administration has found a new ground to seek the deportation of a Syrian-born immigrant with a green card Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over his pro-Palestinian protest.
The administration alleges Mahmoud Khalil provided inaccurate information on his green card application, rendering him ineligible for US residency.
Court documents reveal that the administration claims Khalil omitted details about his extended employment at the British Embassy’s Syria Office in Beirut beyond 2022, and his role as a “political affairs officer” at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from June to November 2023, ABC news reported.
The filing states, “Khalil is now charged as inadmissible at the time of his adjustment of status because he sought to procure an immigration benefit by fraud of willful misrepresentation of a material fact.”
The administration further contended that Khalil failed to disclose his membership in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest organisation.
Khalil was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his Columbia-owned apartment and later moved to a detention facility in Louisiana, where he now faces deportation.
The filing asserts, “Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring, and there is an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim.”
In response, Khalil’s attorney Marc Van Der Hout told ABC News, “The additional charges the government filed last week are completely meritless. They show that the government has no case whatsoever on this bogus charge that his presence in the U.S. would have adverse foreign policy consequences. This case is purely about First Amendment protected activity and speech, and U.S. citizens and permanent residents alike are free to say what they wish about what is going on in the world.”
Since 2023, Trump has repeatedly vowed to revoke visas of international students who participate in pro-Palestinian protests and criticize Israel’s war efforts.
‘Lot of things have changed with the election of Donald Trump’
During Monday’s State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce avoided directly addressing whether UNRWA employment history would disqualify visa applicants, instead stating, “If you lie in your efforts to come to the United States to get a visa for any reason, or for a green card, maybe there haven’t been repercussions, or we haven’t done things properly in the past. A lot of things have changed with the election of Donald Trump.”
Following his initial arrest, Khalil was moved from his student accommodation to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, then to Elizabeth, New Jersey’s immigration facility, before transfer to a Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centre, according to his legal representatives.
