'Convincing evidence': Judge rules Trump can deport Columbia University activist

A federal immigration judge on Friday greenlighted the deportation of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, citing concerns that the man arrested last month as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could pose a national security risk, according to media reports.

The Friday ruling came a month after Khalil’s arrest as Trump administration officials continue to allege that he expressed sympathy to the terrorist group Hamas during protests on the campus.

Immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans said Friday at the conclusion of a hearing in Louisiana that the government’s argument that Khalil remaining in the United States posed “potentially serious foreign policy consequences” was enough to satisfy requirements for his deportation, the Associated Press reported.

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The judge added that the government had “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable,” according to the AP.

Khalil, 30, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents and is a legal resident of the United States, is expected to appeal the Friday decision. He has been held in a federal detention center in Louisiana since his arrest last month sparked nationwide protests and a multitude of legal questions.