Former Columbia University student and Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil is now a step closer to being deported from the US after the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a final removal order in his case on Thursday. 

The judges who make up the BIA do not operate as an independent judiciary. The BIA falls under the control of the executive branch of government - in this case, the Trump administration.

The same applies to all immigration courts, which operate under the purview of the Department of Justice. 

Khalil's lawyers maintain that the decision to remove him from the country is in direct retaliation for his pro-Palestine speech. They are going to appeal, they said in a statement.

Khalil has a separate, ongoing federal case regarding what his team said were violations of his constitutional rights, which means he cannot be rearrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or deported until that case is closed.

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