The federal government has accused Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil of failing to disclose that he worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) during his application for legal permanent residency.
“Khalil’s First Amendment arguments falter on their own terms. Regardless of his allegations concerning political speech, Khalil withheld membership in certain organizations and failed to disclose continuing employment by the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut when he submitted his adjustment of status application,” federal prosecutors wrote in court filings. “It is black-letter law that misrepresentations in this context are not protected speech. Thus, Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring, and there is an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim here.”
On March 10, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman issued an order halting the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil. The graduate student is a legal permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen and was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8 outside his New York apartment.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated that Khalil’s arrest was linked to his “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” McLaughlin noted that the arrest was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.”
President Trump signed an executive order in February to pull funding from UNRWA. The order explained that the organization was “infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State (Secretary) as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.”
“The Secretary shall inform the UN Secretary General and the leadership of UNRWA and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the United States will not fund UNRWA or the UNHRC and that the United States will not satisfy any claims to pay 2025 assessments or prior arrears by these organizations,” the order declared.
