Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student at the center of last year’s anti-Israel campus protests, told an immigration judge Thursday that his deportation would amount to “suicide.”
Khalil, who was arrested in March, is currently detained at an ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana.
The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil under an obscure national security provision, arguing his activities present “serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States” because of his links to to the Islamist terror group Hamas.
“I spent a good time of my life fleeing from harm and advocating for the marginalized,” Khalil said. “That’s what put me in danger.
”That is what I was protesting,” he continued. “That is what I will continue to protest. This is what everyone should protest.”
Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil should be protected from deportation, which could put his life at risk, his attorneys say. https://t.co/2wWZoOPtUE
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 23, 2025
He claims that deporting him to Syria or Algeria would endanger not only himself but his family.
Khalil added that he fears kidnapping, assassination, torture or the targeting of his family and that returning to Syria “would be suicide.”
“I’ve been targeted for my political beliefs,” he said. “The president labeled me as a terrorist sympathizer.”
”I’ve only spent one hour in one month of my son’s life, and that was this morning.”
TERROR: Mahmoud Khalil’s wife refuses to answer when asked point blank if her husband supports Hamas. She won’t condemn Hamas either. Khalil reportedly passed out materials from Hamas media office, led a movement which held hostages in an illegally hijacked building, and was… pic.twitter.com/8Ovj55nfl6
— @amuse (@amuse) March 25, 2025
The 29-year-old activist was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and holds Algerian citizenship.
He was previously a green card holder when arrested, but his residency has since been revoked.
Judge Jamee Comans focused the hearing on whether deportation would expose Khalil to credible harm.
His attorneys presented testimony from sympathetic academics and human rights activists, but the court has already ruled his presence in the U.S. is a national security concern.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security official Tricia McLaughlin said people like Khalil would be best advised to leave on their own terms.
“We’re offering him even more: use the CBP Home app to self-deport,” she explained.
”The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 apiece and a free flight to self-deport now, which Khalil can take advantage of.”
Last month, Khalil compared his experiences at an ICE detention facility to living in a Nazi concentration camp.
Closing arguments are due June 2nd. Until then, Khalil will remain in detention.
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