United States | News & Politics

JENA, Louisiana – An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil can be deported on the basis of a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that says he has personally determined Khalil poses “adverse foreign policy consequences” to the US.

Khalil, clean-cut but pale, with ACLU attorney Nora Ahmed at his side, listened as Judge Jamee Comans said the Trump administration’s evidence – which primarily relied on a two-page letter from Rubio – was sufficient to deport him under a rarely used legal provision in immigration law.

Khalil has not been charged with a crime. Instead, the Trump administration alleged that his presence poses adverse “foreign policy consequences.”