A federal judge in New York denied Wednesday the Trump administration’s request to throw out pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s challenge against his detention, also rejecting the government’s effort to move the green card holder’s case to a more conservative court in Louisiana that could have been more willing to side with the Trump administration.
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to the press on the Columbia University campus in New York on April 29, 2024.
Judge Jesse Furman denied the Trump administration’s request to throw out Khalil’s case, as the permanent resident—a leader in Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests—argues he was unlawfully arrested and detained for voicing pro-Palestinian views.
The Trump administration filed a motion to dismiss the case because it was brought in the wrong court, as Khalil, though initially arrested in New York, was no longer in the state by the time his lawyer filed the case.
The Trump administration requested Furman should instead move the case to Louisiana if he doesn’t throw out the case entirely,, which is where Khalil is now being detained, and is also a more conservative court that could be more favorable to the government.
Furman argued that if he threw out the case, that would also cancel a previous order he issued barring the government from deporting Khalil—meaning that even if Khalil’s attorneys refiled the case in a different court, the Trump administration could “frustrate Khalil’s effort to obtain judicial review of his claims by removing him from the country before a court could rule.”
The judge also denied the effort to move the case to Louisiana—but did move the case to New Jersey, where Khalil was being held when the petition against his detention was filed, rejecting Khalil’s attorneys’ argument that the case should stay in New York because the Trump administration had intentionally made it difficult to figure out where the activist was.
The White House, Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Furman’s order means Khalil’s case will be transferred to New Jersey, but unless that court rules otherwise, the Trump administration will still be barred from deporting him while the litigation challenging his detention plays out. It’s unclear how that court will handle the case or if it could be more favorable to the Trump administration, but however it rules, the government or Khalil’s lawyers are likely to appeal the cases to higher courts. Citing anonymous sources, Axios reports the Trump administration is aiming to get Khalil’s case to the Supreme Court, hoping the 6-3 conservative court will use it as an opportunity to back Trump’s hardline immigration agenda and clear the way for the government to arrest more immigrants who are in the country legally but express adverse viewpoints.
The Trump administration arrested Khalil under a rarely used provision of immigration law, which says the Secretary of State can order someone “deportable” if they pose a threat to the U.S.’s “foreign policy.” The White House has painted Khalil as supporting Hamas and promoting antisemitism in his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University, which Khalil has strongly denied.
Immigration officials arrested Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, at his university-owned residence on March 8. The student is a green card holder from Syria with Palestinian parents, who became one of the public faces of Columbia’s contentious pro-Palestinian protests and tent encampment last year. Those protests became the epicenter of what was ultimately a wave of protests on college campuses nationwide, which have drawn widespread rebuke from Republicans who have alleged the activism was antisemitic. Khalil’s arrest has become a flashpoint as the Trump administration has ramped up its hardline immigration efforts and taken broad steps to deport and detain even lawful immigrants, and reports have emerged in the wake of Khalil’s arrest about the government detaining other lawful residents, as well as a Brown University professor who was deported to Lebanon, with the administration citing photos on her phone of Iranian and Hezbollah leaders. Trump has claimed Khalil’s arrest was the first of “many to come.”