Ruling is seen as a win for Khalil but does not guarantee he will be moved out of the detention facility in the southern state of Louisiana.
A United States federal court judge has ruled in favour of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, allowing him to challenge the legality of his arrest in New Jersey rather than in Louisiana, where he is being held at a detention facility without charges.
The decision by US District Judge Michael Farbiarz on Tuesday marked the second time the President Donald Trump administration’s legal team was unsuccessful in moving the Columbia University student’s case over to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana – the country’s most conservative appeals court – to get Khalil deported.
Khalil’s lawyer, Baher Azmy, said his team was grateful the court understood the government’s “transparent attempt” to manipulate the jurisdiction of US courts to shield their “unconstitutional” and “chilling” behaviour.
Dr Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s pregnant wife who is a US citizen, said she was relieved by the decision but that “there is still a lot more to be done”, to release Khalil, whose green card was revoked by US authorities.
Although Tuesday’s case was a win for Khalil, it only settled the jurisdictional dispute of which court would be able to hear his attempts to challenge the legality of the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him – a dispute that originated when Khalil was held in a New Jersey detention facility for several hours following his arrest in Manhattan on March 8, before being moved across state lines to Louisiana.
Khalil’s case is seen as a test of Trump’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian activists who have not been charged with any crime.
The Trump administration said it has revoked the visas of hundreds of foreign students it says took part in demonstrations that swept college campuses across the US, protesting against the government’s military support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Lawyers say the Trump administration has improperly targeted people for holding particular political views.
Khalil’s lawyers have also asked Judge Farbiarz to release their client from detention in Louisiana as efforts to deport him in a separate case before an immigration court play out and, in part, to allow him to be with his wife for the birth of their son.
A doctor’s letter filed in court estimates that the baby is due on April 28.
