Judge Orders Mahmoud Khalil’s Case be Returned to New Jersey

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return detained pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to New Jersey, and adjudicate his arrest and attempted deporation in the jurisdiction where he resides. 

Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime. Earlier this month, the lawful permanent resident was arrested in a targeted crackdown by the Trump administration against non-citizens who exercised their First Amendment rights during pro-Palestinian protests. Khalil, a former student at Columbia University, was detained by plain clothes Department of Homeland Security officers in New York, placed into an unmarked car, and whisked away to a Louisiana detention facility where he is currently being held. His wife, who is a citizen and eight months pregnant, was threatened with arrest by DHS officers when she attempted to inform immigration officials that Khalil was a green card holder. 

The U.S. government has argued that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States, and claimed without evidence that Khalil’s participation in protests essentially rendered him a Hamas operative. 

In a letter published on Tuesday, Khalil described himself as “a political prisoner.”

“My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a freePalestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza, which resumed in full force Monday night. With January’s ceasefire now broken, parents in Gaza are once again cradling too-small shrouds, and families are forced to weigh starvation and displacement against bombs. It is our moral imperative to persist in the struggle for their complete freedom,” he wrote. “The Trump administration is targeting me as part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent. Visa-holders, green-card carriers,

and citizens alike will all be targeted for their political beliefs. In the weeks ahead,students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.” 

Editor’s picks

Last week, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman barred the Trump administration from deporting Khalil. On Wednesday, Furman wrote in a decision that the activist’s case should be “transferred to the District of New Jersey, not dismissed or transferred to the Western District of Louisiana.” 

“These conclusions flow from the undisputed fact that, at 4:40 a.m. on March 9, 2025, when Khalil’s lawyer filed the Petition on his behalf, he was detained in New Jersey,” Furman added. “A straightforward application of the district-of-confinement and immediate-custodian rules therefore dictates that Khalil’s Petition should have been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, not in [Louisiana].”

Furman added that the allegations made by Khalil against the government “warrant careful review by a court of law; the fundamental constitutional principle that all persons in the United States are entitled to due process of law demands no less.” 

Trending Stories

Furman isn’t the only federal judge to block — or try to block — the Trump administration’s apparently unconstitutional actions carried out under a thin guise of protecting national security. Judge James Boasberg ruled over the weekend that the administration could not deport a planeload of Venezuleans to El Salvador without due process, an order the administration appears to have violated. Trump and his allies have been attacking Boasberg for the ruling, with Trump calling for his impeachment on Tuesday. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement rebuking the call, writing that impeachment is “not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

Trump was asked about Roberts’ statement that night on Fox News. “Well, he didn’t mention my name in the statement,” the president said, before continuing to attack Boasberg.