Immigration judge orders Mahmoud Khalil to be deported to Syria or Algeria.

The pro-Palestinian activist's lawyers said they plan to appeal the immigration judge’s order, which was revealed in court documents filed on Wednesday

Members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, including Mahmoud Khalil (center), surrounded by members of the media outside the Columbia University campusAP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File

An immigration judge in Louisiana ordered pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the US, to be deported to Syria or Algeria for keeping information from his green card application, according to documents filed in federal court Wednesday by his lawyers.

The order came despite Khalil's opposing federal case in New Jersey that blocked his deportation, considering the legal argument that Khalil's detention and deportation are illegal retaliation for his pro-Palestinian activism.

In a statement, Khalil, a Palestinian originally from Syria, accused the Trump administration of using “fascist tactics.”

“It is no surprise that the Trump administration continues to retaliate against me for my exercise of free speech. Their latest attempt, through a kangaroo immigration court, exposes their true colors once again,” Khalil said.

Khalil's arrest and detention were part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign-born pro-Palestinian academics who were studying or working in the US legally. 

The former Columbia graduate student who helped organize pro-Palestinian protests on campus was arrested by invoking a condition of immigration law that allows the government to deport any noncitizen, even a legal resident, if the secretary of state determines that the person’s presence harms the country's foreign policy interests.

His lawyers suggested in a filing that they plan to appeal the deportation order but expressed concern that the appeal process will most likely be swift and unfavorable.