The Trump administration – after accusing Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil of being a Hamas sympathizer without providing evidence – now says Khalil’s deportation is justified because he did not reveal connections to two organizations in his application to become a permanent US resident,

The Trump administration is citing new grounds to seek the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, whose arrest by immigration authorities has triggered a national debate.

The Justice Department accused Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was detained by the Trump administration and had his visa revoked, of hiding his association with a controversial United Nations agency.