Overview

• Court filings made public Wednesday show that on Sept. 12 Judge Jamee Comans in Jena, Louisiana denied Mahmoud Khalil’s bids for more time and a venue change, rejected his waiver request, and issued a removal order.
• Comans found Khalil willfully misrepresented material facts on his Form I‑485 by failing to disclose affiliations including UNRWA and Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and she declined to grant a discretionary waiver.
• The order designates Algeria or Syria as potential destinations and cites, as a negative factor, a Secretary of State determination that his U.S. presence could carry foreign‑policy consequences.
• Khalil’s attorneys say they have 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals and note that stays are rarely granted in the Fifth Circuit, making a standing New Jersey injunction the primary barrier to enforcement.
• A former Columbia protest leader, Khalil was arrested by ICE in March, detained for about 104 days, and released in June after a federal judge ruled he was not a flight risk and blocked removal while his civil‑rights case alleging retaliation proceeds.