Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil will be deported to Algeria over his role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in New York, NewsNation reported on Thursday, citing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official.
Khalil, who was born in Syria to a Palestinian family, holds a green card and entered the US with a student visa, was one of the main figures in the 2024 protests at Columbia University Campus.
The Trump Administration has been pushing to deport Khalil, while the activist's lawer arguing that the removal of his green card would violate the US Constitution.
“It looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, told NewsNation.
“It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country, act like it,” she added. “It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study.”
Court overturns ruling to free Khalil
Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that a judge had no jurisdiction to order the release of Khalil from immigration detention, delivering President Donald Trump's administration a victory in its efforts to deport the anti-Israel activist.
The 2-1 ruling by a panel of the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals paves the way for Khalil's rearrest after it ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit he filed challenging his initial detention.
The court said that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the district court that considered his lawsuit was not the proper forum to address his claims, which should have been heard through an appeal of a removal order from an immigration judge.
Reuters contributed to this report.