A Louisiana court on Friday gave the US government the green light to deport permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil for his political views.
An Algerian citizen and son of Palestinian refugees, Khalil’s arrest has made him a symbol of the Trump administration’s draconian crackdown on criticism of Israel in American universities.
A graduate student of international affairs at Columbia University, Khalil took a lead role in the pro-Palestine demonstrations that swept the university last year.
He acted as a spokesperson for the protesters and negotiated with the university administration after students occupied areas of the campus.
Officials in the Trump administration accused him of being “pro-Hamas”, and in a widely condemned move, federal immigration agents arrested him on 8 March and transferred him to a detention facility in Louisiana…..more