Lawyers to fight Columbia student's deportation order

An immigration judge has ruled that a Palestinian Columbia University graduate student who participated in protests against Israel can be deported. Mahmoud Khalil’s attorneys said they will appeal Friday’s ruling.

- SARAH HARVEY

Federal immigration agents detained Mr Khalil last month, the first arrest under Donald Trump's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza.

Mr Khalil, a legal US resident, was taken to an immigration detention centre in Jena, Louisiana, thousands of miles from his attorneys and wife, a US citizen who is due to give birth soon.

Here’s a look at what has happened so far in Mr Khalil’s legal battle and what happens next.

The arrest

Mr Khalil, a 30-year-old international affairs graduate student, had served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists at Columbia University who took over a campus lawn last spring to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The university brought police in to dismantle the encampment after a small group of protesters seized an administration building. Mr Khalil is not accused of participating in the building occupation and wasn’t among the people arrested in connection with the demonstrations.