The prominent Columbia University anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest leader Mahmoud Khalil will likely be deported to Algeria, a US official said in a Thursday interview.

The Trump administration arrested Khalil last year during its crackdown on campus activists.

Khalil’s legal team has waged a legal battle against his detention and deportation, but an appeals court last week ruled in favor of the administration, bringing authorities a step closer to detaining Khalil again and deporting him from the US.

Following that ruling, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Khalil will likely be deported.

“It looks like he’ll go to Algeria. That’s what the thought is right now,” McLaughlin told NewsNation.

“It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country — act like it,” McLaughlin said. “It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study, and if you are pushing propaganda that relishes the killings of Americans or promotes terrorists, the door’s that way.”

Khalil was born in Syria, holds Algerian citizenship, and is a permanent US resident, but not a citizen.

Khalil was a leader of Columbia University........

© The Times of Israel