Marco Rubio memo cites Mahmoud Khalil's beliefs in justifying his deportation

Faced with a judge's deadline to provide evidence that Mahmoud Khalil poses a national security threat to the U.S., the Trump administration responded with a brief memo citing the Columbia student protester's beliefs in justifying his deportation.

Faced with a judge's deadline to provide evidence that Mahmoud Khalil poses a national security threat to the U.S., the Trump administration responded with a brief memo citing the Columbia student protester's beliefs in justifying his deportation.

Khalil, a graduate student who helped lead protests against the war in Gaza last year, was arrested by immigration authorities on March 8. On Tuesday, an immigration judge in Louisiana ordered the federal government to provide evidence by Wednesday justifying its attempt to deport him.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded Wednesday evening in a memo obtained by NBC News. In a one-and-a-half-page memo, he cited an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to justify Khalil’s removal from the U.S.

Rubio said that while Khalil's “past, current or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful," the provision allows the secretary of state alone to “personally determine” whether he should remain in the country.

He said that allowing Khalil to stay in the U.S. would create a "hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”