The Trump administration has accused Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and anti-Israel protester, of failing to disclose his employment with a United Nations Palestinian relief agency on his visa application, alleging this omission warrants deportation.

Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on March 8. In a court brief dated Sunday, the U.S. government outlined its arguments for keeping Khalil in custody while his removal proceedings continue.

The department says Khalil fraudulently applied to change his immigration status without fully disclosing his “membership in certain organization,” which could be grounds for deportation.

“Thus, Khalil’s First Amendment allegations are a red herring, and there is an independent basis to justify removal sufficient to foreclose Khalil’s constitutional claim here,” they said.

Students march on Columbia University campus in support of a protest encampment supporting Palestinians, despite a 2 pm deadline issued by university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City, U.S., April 29, 2024. (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

Khalil, a native of Syria and citizen of Algeria, entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and later filed to become a permanent resident in 2024.

He is the first in the Trump administration’s crusade to revoke student visas for participating in protests.

People demonstrate outside Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, on the day of a hearing on the detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, in New York City, U.S., March 12, 2025. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, leading to President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreigners’ student visas.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Khalil’s attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, for comment.