DOJ says Mahmoud Khalil didn’t disclose involvement in pro-Palestinian groups in green card application
The Trump administration filed new allegations against Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student detained due to his pro-Palestinian activism on campus, while trying to dismiss his First Amendment violation claims as a "red herring."
The Trump administration filed new allegations against Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student detained due to his pro-Palestinian activism on campus, while trying to dismiss his First Amendment violation claims as a "red herring."
In a filing Sunday, the Justice Department said Khalil, who is a green-card holder, withheld information about his membership in certain organizations and failed to disclose his employment at the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, in his permanent residency application.
Khalil, a native of Syria and citizen of Algeria, entered the U.S. on a student visa in December 2022 and was adjusted to lawful permanent resident status in November 2024.
He allegedly did not disclose that he was a member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as a political officer or that he was part of Columbia University Apartheid Divest when he applied to become a permanent resident in 2024, according to a Department of Homeland Security March 17 document, which the government referenced in its filing.
The administration claimed that Khalil also failed to disclose his employment as a program manager by the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut after 2022, according to the document, which detailed additional grounds for Khalil's deportation. It is not immediately clear when or if Khalil stopped working at the embassy.
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