New Jersey judge moves Mahmoud Khalil's deportation out of immigration court and into federal court

A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled that Palestinian activist and foreign national Mahmoud Khalil will be able to fight his immigration case in federal court instead of an immigration court. The judge argued that immigration courts are not set up to provide the ruling that Khalil is seeking, namely that his deportation order from the Secretary of State be vacated.

Khalil, who holds a green card, was arrested on an administrative warrant at his Columbia University housing in Manhattan over his antisemitic protest activity on Columbia's campus last year.

Khalil, who was detained by the Trump administration for deportation, can now argue his immigration case in the New Jersey court instead of an immigration court, New Jersey District Judge Michael Farbiarz said in a 108-page ruling, per Court House News. After his Manhattan arrest, he was held briefly in New Jersey before being sent to a detainment facility in Louisiana. The Trump administration argued that his court should be held in Louisiana while Khalil's attorneys argued for New Jersey.

The Trump administration had argued that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Khalil's case had to be dealt with in an immigration court instead of the federal court New Jersey Court’s jurisdiction.

An immigration court in Louisiana had previously said that Khalil was able to be deported by the Trump administration after Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a provision in law that allows for noncitizens of the US to be deported if they are determined to be a threat to US foreign policy.

Khalil will now be permitted to argue in the federal court that he was targeted for his political views. Khalil is Palestinian, born in Syria, and came to the US as a graduate student within the past few years. He finished his study in December 2024. 

Khalil failed to disclose details about his employment history at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), according to the Department of Justice. UNRWA staffers have been connected to the October 7 terror attacks in Israel and Khalil worked as a political affairs officer for the UNRWA between June and November 2023. 

Farbiarz wrote in his decision: “In a nutshell: The petitioner seeks here an injunction vacating the secretary of state’s determination. But the immigration courts cannot issue injunctions. And they cannot suppress evidence (like the secretary’s determination) on First Amendment grounds.”