NEW YORK — The U.S. government has accused Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil of failing to disclose prior employment with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, on his student visa application, a move officials argue justifies his deportation.
Khalil, an Algerian citizen born in Syria, entered the U.S. in 2022 on a student visa and later applied for permanent residency in 2024.
He was detained on March 8 and has since been transferred to Louisiana under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to the Trump administration, Khalil’s undisclosed role as a political officer for UNRWA in 2023 raises serious foreign policy concerns, along with his failure to report previous employment at the British Embassy’s Syria office in Beirut and his leadership in Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student group advocating divestment from companies linked to Israeli settlements.
A protester chants during a demonstration in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, Monday, March 10, 2025, in New York. | AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
UNRWA Controversy and Political Fallout
Khalil’s case has gained traction amid ongoing scrutiny of UNRWA, which became a political flashpoint in January 2024 after Israel alleged that 12 of its staff were linked to Hamas’ October 7 attacks.
In response, the U.S. froze funding to the agency.
While a subsequent UN investigation found that nine of 32,000 UNRWA employees were under suspicion, political fallout continues to affect the agency’s operations.
The case has now raised concerns about due process, national security, and political speech in academia, as Columbia University has been a focal point for student-led protests against U.S. support for Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza.
Legal Battle and Free Speech Concerns
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed court documents on Sunday, arguing that Khalil should be deported for “withholding membership in certain organizations” on his visa forms.
However, a federal judge in New Jersey has temporarily blocked his deportation while a habeas corpus petition is under review.
One of Khalil’s attorneys, Ramzi Kassem, co-director of the CLEAR legal clinic, condemned the government’s actions as politically motivated.
“That the government scrambled to add them at the 11th hour only highlights how its motivation from the start was to retaliate against Mr. Khalil for his protected speech in support of Palestinian rights and lives,” Kassem told The New York Times.
Khalil, a vocal leader in Columbia’s pro-Palestinian movement, has described himself as a “political prisoner”, arguing that his detention is part of a broader crackdown on dissenting voices in the U.S.
Broader Implications and Next Steps
The case has sparked nationwide debate on academic freedom and political activism, particularly within elite institutions where protests over U.S. policy on Israel and Palestine have intensified.
Civil liberties groups remain divided—some condemning Khalil’s arrest as an attack on free speech, while others support heightened scrutiny of individuals linked to UNRWA given past allegations against the agency.
The federal court will now determine whether Khalil will be deported or allowed to remain in the U.S. His legal team is expected to argue that the visa-related omissions are being used as a pretext for politically motivated retaliation.
Meanwhile, protests demanding his release continue outside ICE facilities in New York and Louisiana.
The ruling in Khalil’s case could set a precedent for how visa-related disclosures are handled in cases involving students and activists from conflict regions.
