Judge Says US Can Deport Pro-Palestinian Student Protester

Jena, United States: An immigration judge ruled Friday that a pro-Palestinian student protester, a US permanent resident detained by the Trump administration, can be deported, his lawyer said.

Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans, based in the state of Louisiana, said the federal government had met its burden to prove it had grounds to deport Mahmoud Khalil, according to a statement by his attorney.

"Today, we saw our worst fears play out: Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing, and a weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent. This is not over, and our fight continues," Khalil's attorney Marc van der Hout said in the statement.

Khalil is not yet scheduled for deportation, and the judge gave his attorneys until April 23 to seek a waiver, the statement added.

The Columbia University student, a prominent face of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel's war in Gaza, is married to a US citizen.

He was arrested and taken to Louisiana, sparking protests. Several other foreign student protesters have been similarly targeted.

Comans had ordered the government to spell out its case against Khalil, who the government is seeking to deport on the grounds that his protest activities are a threat to national security.

In a letter to the court, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Khalil's activism could hurt Washington's foreign policy.

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