{"id":409551,"date":"2026-01-15T21:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T21:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409551\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T21:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T21:41:14","slug":"court-reverses-decision-that-freed-pro-palestinian-activist-mahmoud-khalil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409551\/","title":{"rendered":"Court reverses decision that freed pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision<\/a> that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn\u2019t decide the key issue in Khalil\u2019s case: whether the Trump administration\u2019s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn\u2019t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple \u2014 not zero or two,\u201d the panel wrote. \u201cBut it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law bars Khalil \u201cfrom attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition,\u201d the panel added.<\/p>\n

Ruling won\u2019t result in immediate detention<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration\u2019s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.<\/p>\n

Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson, called the ruling \u201ca vindication of the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, she said the department will \u201cwork to enforce his lawful removal order\u201d and encouraged Khalil to \u201cself-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.<\/p>\n

In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil said the appeals ruling was \u201cdeeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baher Azmy, one of Khalil\u2019s lawyers, said the ruling was \u201ccontrary to rulings of other federal courts.\u201d He noted the panel\u2019s finding concerned a \u201chypertechnical jurisdictional matter,\u201d rather than the legality of the Trump administration\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,\u201d he added, saying Khalil would remain free pending the full resolution of all appeals, which could take months or longer.<\/p>\n

The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won\u2019t happen while he can still immediately appeal.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Khalil\u2019s lawyers can request that the active judges on the 3rd Circuit hear an appeal, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Khalil calls allegations \u2018baseless\u2019<\/p>\n

An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested<\/a> last March. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing his firstborn\u2019s birth. <\/p>\n

Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities \u201caligned to Hamas,\u201d though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They also accused Khalil, 31, of failing to disclose information on his green card application. <\/p>\n

The government justified the arrest<\/a> under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.<\/p>\n

In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.<\/p>\n

Khalil has dismissed the allegations as \u201cbaseless and ridiculous,\u201d framing his arrest and detention as a \u201cdirect consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Now-or-never claims\u2019<\/p>\n

Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising \u201cnow-or-never claims\u201d that can be handled at the district court level. He does not have a final order of removal, which would permit a challenge in an appellate court, she wrote.<\/p>\n

Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.<\/p>\n

The majority opinion noted Freeman worried the ruling would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut our legal system routinely forces petitioners \u2014 even those with meritorious claims \u2014 to wait to raise their arguments, the judges wrote. \u201cTo be sure, the immigration judge\u2019s order of removal is not yet final; the Board has not affirmed her ruling and has held the parties\u2019 briefing deadlines in abeyance pending this opinion. But if the Board ultimately affirms, Khalil can get meaningful review.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order<\/a> that found Khalil could be deported. His attorneys have argued that the federal order should take precedence. <\/p>\n

That judge has suggested Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.<\/p>\n

His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country. <\/p>\n

New York City\u2019s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, lent his voice to the dispute Thursday, calling for Khalil to remain free.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year\u2019s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,\u201d Mamdani wrote on X. \u201cNow, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free \u2014 and must remain free.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3768,1927,196696,2302,12,526,793,12805,790,3319,18320,152186,27460,1997,2005,1999,3,5631,35951,3234,2085,111,3775,196695,196694,3767,795,21,792,19,22,20,25,24,800,10766],"class_list":["post-409551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-american-civil-liberties-union","tag-ap-top-news","tag-arianna-freeman","tag-courts","tag-donald-trump","tag-education","tag-general-news","tag-george-w-bush","tag-immigration","tag-joe-biden","tag-juries","tag-local-news-for-apple","tag-mahmoud-khalil","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-pa-state-wire","tag-palestinian-territories-government","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-politics","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-stephanos-bibas","tag-thomas-hardiman","tag-tricia-mclaughlin","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-washington-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}