Board of Immigration Appeals Issues Final Removal Order for Mahmoud Khalil

The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final administrative removal order for Mahmoud Khalil in April 2026, nine days after final briefing. Multiple judges reportedly recused themselves from the case. Internal board documents obtained by The New York Times indicated that Khalil’s case had been flagged as a high priority and expedited.

Marc Van Der Hout, an attorney on Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team, said the speed and recusals showed improper influence. “These revelations make clear that this case has been controlled from day one by higher-ups in the administration,” Van Der Hout stated.

U.S. citizen, was arrested in New York in March 2025 for his advocacy at Columbia University for Palestinian rights. He was sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana and held for 104 days.

His wife gave birth to their first child while he was in detention; that child is now one year old. Khalil was released in June 2025 after a federal judge ruled his detention unconstitutional. The judge found that Khalil was neither a flight risk nor a community threat.

The Trump administration claimed that Mahmoud Khalil’s green card application contained omissions and earlier in 2026 said he would be deported to Algeria. In January 2026, a split panel of the third circuit court of appeals overturned the district court ruling that freed Khalil from detention.

U.S. Foreign policy interests were likely unconstitutional. The third circuit court of appeals ruling held that the district court did not have jurisdiction over the case. Khalil’s attorneys asked the full third circuit court of appeals to reconsider the decision.