Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia graduate student who became a leading face of the anti-Israel encampment movement, has now lost before the Board of Immigration Appeals. The DOJ immigration board dismissed his appeal and denied his motion to remand, leaving a final administrative order of removal in place.  

The ruling is a major legal blow. The board upheld removability under the foreign-policy provision of U.S. immigration law, relying on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination, and separately pointed to Khalil’s failure to disclose UNRWA involvement on his green-card paperwork.  

The board also affirmed that his “activities and presence” were found to carry serious adverse foreign-policy consequences tied to antisemitic and disruptive campus activity that fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students. AP reports the order brings him closer to possible re-arrest and expulsion, but his lawyers say separate federal habeas litigation is still ongoing. No deportation date has been publicly confirmed.