Trump team argues Columbia student agitator Mahmoud Khalil's case should be heard in Louisiana court—not New York

Recent Columbia University grad Mahmoud Khalil was transferred to a Louisiana detention center after his arrest in New York on Saturday night following the revocation of his green card by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. As the DHS agents who took him into custody transferred him first to New Jersey, then Louisiana, Khalil's attorney Amy Greer filed a motion to "compel declaration," what is referred to as a habeas motion, meaning that she wants to see the warrant.

Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District Court of New York agreed and a hearing was scheduled in a New York court for Wednesday morning. The Trump administration seeks to argue that the New York court does not have jurisdiction over the case, saying that a meeting is needed as "the parties do not agree on how the matter should be handled." They say further that "the Court should resolve its anticipated Motion to Transfer or Dismiss for Improper Venue before addressing the proposed relief sought in Petitioner's Motion to Compel Respondents to Return Petitioner to This District."

In other words, the Trump DOJ wants to set the hearing outside the liberal-leaning Southern District Court of New York and they don't want to go ahead with a hearing on the motion until the jurisdiction question is settled. The Trump administration intends to file a motion to change the venue by midnight on Wednesday, with the petitioner, namely Khalil and his attorney, filing their response by Friday, at which time the Trump team will assemble their response and file that with the court on Monday.

Khalil, who finished his masters level studies in international affairs at Columbia University in January, has been in the US since December 2023. He holds a green card and is married to an American woman. The two have been living in Columbia student housing. Khalil had been a major player in the protest movements on Columbia's campus after the October 7, 2023 pogrom against Israel by Hamas terrorists. He has been a spokesperson for the protest group, part of the radical Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and is a Syrian-born Palestinian man who has Algerian citizenship. If he were deported, it is unclear where he would be sent.

After coming into office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect American colleges from radical, antisemitic campus activists. Khalil, who has been among the most radical at Columbia, was among the first targets. When he was detained by DHS agents on Saturday, he and his attorney—who he retained after the university began disciplinary proceedings against him—asked for a warrant. Those agents said they had an administrative warrant.

Officials in the Trump administration have said that Khalil is not being charged with a crime and that he is not suspected of illegal activity but that his status as a green card holder has come into question due to his on-campus protest activities. The State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio can revoke visas at any time, though a green card holder's case must be heard before an immigration judge.

Trump has said that Khalil's arrest would be a "blueprint" for future deportations of campus activists who are in the US, either on student visas or green cards.