A top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said that Mahmoud Khalil, an anti-Israel activist and former Columbia University graduate student who helped organize pro-Palestinian demonstrations in New York, will likely be deported to Algeria, NewsNation reports. “It looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, according to the outlet. Mahmoud Khalil will be rearrested and sent to Algeria, a top Department of Homeland Security official told #KatiePavlichTonight on Wednesday. The Trump administration has tried to deport the Syrian-born activist over his pro-Palestinian demonstrations in New York. MORE:… pic.twitter.com/1ALVyVL1Ta — NewsNation (@NewsNation) January 22, 2026 NewsNation shared further: On Jan. 15, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling reversed a lower court decision that released Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist. NewsNation has reached out to a member of Khalil’s legal team for a response. Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, was arrested by ICE agents March 8, 2025, becoming the first campus activist swept up in President Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Trump administration has argued that Khalil supports Hamas, a terrorist organization, and lied on documents as he applied for permanent U.S. residency. Speaking before supporters at a rally in June, Khalil denied that he supports violence. “Who is Mahmoud Khalil? … Mahmoud Khalil is a human rights defender. Mahmoud Khalil is a freedom fighter. Mahmoud Khalil is a refugee. Mahmoud Khalil is a father and husband, and above all, Mahmoud Khalil is Palestinian,” he said. “Mahmoud Khalil is a New Yorker. He should remain in NYC,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said. “We have seen this attack on him as part of a larger attack on the freedom of speech that is especially pronounced when it comes to the use of that speech to stand up for Palestinian human rights,” he continued. Footage below: Mamdani on Trump plan to deport Mahmoud Khalil: “Mahmoud Khalil is a New Yorker. He should remain in NYC. “We have seen this attack on him as part of a larger attack on the freedom of speech.. when it comes to the use of that speech to stand up for Palestinian human rights.” pic.twitter.com/99tVgTuVr3 — Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) January 22, 2026 More from the New York Post: The feds justified his arrest under a rarely used statute that allows for noncitizens to be kicked out if their beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to US foreign policy interests. In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered that Khalil be cut loose after ruling the justification would likely be declared unconstitutional. The White House scored a major win last week when a federal appeals court overturned the ruling ordering his release from the ICE facility. The three-judge panel found his case should have been allowed to work its way through the immigration court system before Khalil could mount a legal challenge. Immediately after the ruling, McLaughlin urged Khalil to “self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.” It wasn’t immediately clear when the feds would attempt to detain Khalil. Khalil, who has dismissed the allegations against him as “baseless and ridiculous,” insists the saga is a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”