NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� An immigration appeals board has denied Mahmoud Khalil鈥檚 latest bid to dismiss his deportation case, a largely expected ruling that brings the one step closer to re-arrest and possible expulsion.
The Board of Immigration Appeals issued the final order of removal on Thursday, according to Khalil’s lawyers. The board鈥檚 rulings are not public, and an inquiry to the U.S. Department of Justice was not immediately returned.
Khalil said he was not surprised by the ruling, which he called 鈥渂iased and politically motivated.鈥� His attorneys said he cannot be lawfully detained or deported as he pursues a in the federal court system.
鈥淭he only thing I am guilty of is speaking out against the genocide in Palestine 鈥� and this administration has weaponized the immigration system to punish me for it,鈥� Khalil said in a statement.
The Board of Immigration Appeals sets precedent in the , which is controlled by the Department of Justice 鈥� and increasingly under the influence of the Trump administration.
Khalil, a 31-year-old legal permanent resident, was the first person during the federal crackdown on noncitizens who publicly criticized Israel and its actions in Gaza.
The government has claimed that Khalil’s efforts as a at Columbia were 鈥渁ligned to Hamas.鈥� They have not presented evidence of any connection to the terrorist group, and Khalil has adamantly denied allegations of antisemitism.
After his arrest last March, Khalil spent 104 days in an immigration jail, of his first child, before he was ordered released by a federal judge in New Jersey.
Khalil suffered a significant setback in his federal case earlier this year, with a U.S. appeals panel ruling the judge in New Jersey by releasing him. In a 2-1 decision, the panel found that law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts before Khalil can challenge the decision in federal court.
Khalil鈥檚 lawyers are requesting the full appeals panel reconsider the decision. Earlier this month, they asked one of the because of his previous role as a top Justice Department official involved in investigating student protesters.
Khalil was born in Syria to a Palestinian family and holds Algerian citizenship through a distant relative. He has said that he could be targeted, and even killed, if he is deported.
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