Pro-Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Likely To Be Deported To Algeria, Says US Official

Last Updated:January 22, 2026, 20:13 IST

Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested last year for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests, received a setback last week when a US court ruled in favour of his deportation.

A file photo of Mahmoud Khalil (AFP)

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil is likely to be deported to Algeria, according to a US official, days after a US court reversed a lower court order to free the former Columbia University student from an immigration jail.

The Trump administration arrested Khalil last year during its crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activists in the US. His legal team has waged a legal battle against his deportation, but an appeals court last week ruled in favour of the administration, bringing authorities a step closer to detaining and deporting Khalil.

In a 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time, according to The Times of Israel, referring to Khalil being released from prison after spending 104 days there. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.

Following the verdict, US Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin says Khalil will likely be deported. “It looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now," McLaughlin tells 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," McLaughlin says. “It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study."

‘Deeply Disappointed’: Khalil On Court Ruling

The law bars Khalil “from attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition," the appeals court panel added. The decision marked a major win for the White House in its crackdown against pro-Palestinian activists. Khalil said the appeals ruling was “deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve."

“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected," he added.

Khalil’s lawyers can request that the active judges on the 3rd Circuit hear an appeal, or they can go to the US Supreme Court. He received support from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who said Khalil “must remain free".

Who Is Mahmoud Khalil?

Khalil, 30, was the head of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a coalition of anti-Israel campus activists, while he was a graduate student at Columbia. He has been one of the most prominent leaders of the US pro-Palestinian campus protests.

In 2024, Columbia University found itself at the centre of a firestorm over claims of anti-Semitism triggered by campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. Khalil, an Algerian citizen born to a Palestinian family in a refugee camp in Syria, was leading the protests that reportedly called for the “total eradication of Western civilisation."

He was arrested in March after the Trump administration deemed him a national security threat. A legal permanent resident of the United States who is married to a US citizen, Khalil missed the birth of his son while being held in a federal immigration detention centre in Louisiana.

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