Pro-Palestine agitator Mahmoud Khalil can be deported despite marriage to American citizen

Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen born in Syria and a former Columbia University graduate student, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Saturday for allegedly leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Khalil, who has acted as a spokesman for the pro-Palestine student group “Columbia University Apartheid Divest,” is married to a U.S. citizen and holds a green card. However, legal experts say that does not prevent his deportation.

“We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced following Khalil’s arrest.

Former immigration judge Matt O’Brien, director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, told Border Hawk that common misconceptions about immigration law often obscure the reality of cases like Khalil’s.

“It’s a myth that people who have green cards can’t be deported. It’s a myth that people who are married to U.S. citizens can’t be deported,” O’Brien said. “If you are a foreign national who is here on a green card, you have to obey the laws.”

Khalil’s legal team argues that he is being unfairly targeted and is fighting his deportation, while supporters claim he is a "political prisoner." However, O’Brien clarified that constitutional rights for foreign nationals differ from those of American citizens.

“Citizens have a constitutional right to remain in the United States because they are members of the political club that we call the U.S.A. Foreign nationals are not,” O’Brien explained. “And that’s the situation that this individual finds himself in.”

On Monday, President Trump praised Khalil’s arrest, calling it “the first of many to come” as his administration intensifies efforts to remove individuals allegedly tied to extremist organizations.