Mahmoud Khalil Deportation Case Shifts Focus to Material Misrepresentations

There have been significant developments in the Trump administration’s effort to remove Mahmoud Khalil, the Syrian-born former Columbia graduate student and pro-Hamas campus agitator beloved — of course — of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. These developments have been complicated by the administration’s tactics, which have enabled Khalil to seek relief from a federal district court that shouldn’t be involved in the case.

Khalil first entered the United States legally, on a student visa. He married an American citizen (they now have a child) and, on that basis, was permitted to adjust his status to lawful permanent resident alien. This required providing truthful answers on a government form.