An obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act being invoked to deport Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil was meant to be used sparingly, leading immigration attorneys to question how the Trump administration intends to use it moving forward.

The INA provision at issue stems from Section 237 of the INA, which allows the U.S. secretary of state to deport noncitizens whose continued presence in the U.S. is determined to have adverse consequences for U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil — a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen who led pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia University — fits the bill because of his alleged support for Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization behind the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that killed roughly 1,200 mostly civilians in Israel and the taking of about 250 hostages to Gaza.

But chief adviser of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Angela Kelley, told reporters during a press briefing Thursday that the administration's use of the rarely used INA provision to try to deport Khalil is a red flag.

"Beyond the concerns of his First Amendment rights being infringed, which is serious enough, the administration's comfort in using a blunt weapon in this one instance portends a legitimate alarm for future uses," Kelley said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Khalil earlier this week of "siding with terrorists" and distributing pro-Hamas propaganda during student protests over the Israeli war in Gaza. Attorneys for Khalil, a Palestinian who was born and raised in Syria, have said there is no evidence to back up those assertions. His legal team maintains that his arrest is retaliatory and intended to suppress political speech advocating for Palestinian rights and calling for an end to Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which U.N. and human rights organizations have warned could constitute war crimes or genocide.

Data from the Gaza Ministry of Health says that more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's ground incursion into and aerial bombardment of the territory.

David Leopold, past president of American Immigration Lawyers Association, said Khalil appears to have been targeted for his speech given that the legislative history of the INA provision at issue shows it was meant to be used sparingly and in unusual circumstances. A student protester isn't all that unusual, nor is it extraordinary, he said.

If Khalil's removal is deemed constitutional, it could trickle down to noncitizens who protest other things, like transgender rights, which Leopold said raises concerns about just how far the Trump administration will go.

"Who's next? Is it us? Is it people who are so privileged as to have U.S. citizenship? Where does it end?" Leopold said. "And so this is … an extremely pivotal moment, I would say, in American history."

Federal immigration officers arrested Khalil Saturday night at Columbia University housing, and he has since been transferred to a detention center in Louisiana after a stop at a detention center in New Jersey, according to court filings. A New York federal judge has blocked the government from removing Khalil while his habeas corpus petition is pending and the court hashes out where the case should be heard.

The Trump administration told U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman on Wednesday that the case belongs in Louisiana, where Khalil is detained. In a motion to dismiss or transfer, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice said only courts in the jurisdiction where a detainee is being held have authority over habeas petitions.

According to data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, immigration judges in Louisiana denied 88.36% of asylum claims between 2016 and 2021. That factor likely led the government to send Khalil to the state, according to Leopold, who chalked up the government's action as "forum shopping" for a jurisdiction with judges deemed more favorable to the government.

Khalil's attorneys have said the case properly belongs in New York, where he was initially detained. AILA's senior director of government relations, Greg Chen, said during the press briefing that his legal team has a strong leg to stand on.

"There's good case law — including in New York itself — in federal courts indicating that the relevant facts of where he was detained, where … activities might have occurred, should be where proper venue sits for this case," Chen said.

Khalil is represented by attorneys including Amy Greer and Joshua Dratel of Dratel & Lewis, Kyle Barron of The Legal Aid Society, Baher Amzy, Samah Sisay and Diala Shamas of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Ramzi Kassem, Naz Ahmad and Shezza Abboushi Dallal of the CUNY School of Law.

The government is represented by Jeffrey Oestericher and Brandon Waterman of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

The case is M.K. v. Joyce et al., case number 1:25-cv-01935, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

--Additional reporting by Pete Brush and Dorothy Atkins. Editing by Rich Mills.