BIA orders deportation of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil

The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final removal order against Mahmoud Khalil, a 31-year-old lawful permanent resident and Columbia University graduate student. Khalil has been detained since March 2025 after the Trump administration invoked Section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows deportation when the secretary of state determines a noncitizen poses a foreign policy risk. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the determination. No criminal charges were filed against Khalil, who organized pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia in 2024. The BIA ruling makes Khalil's removal administratively final, but his case isn't over. A federal injunction from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals still blocks his physical removal while his First Amendment constitutional challenge moves forward. His lawyers will appeal the BIA decision to the Fifth Circuit. The case highlights a rarely used provision that critics say weaponizes immigration law to suppress campus activism and political dissent.