Judge orders Mahmoud Khalil case to be moved from Louisiana to New Jersey

A New York federal judge has denied the Trump administration’s bid to dismiss the legal challenge brought by Mahmoud Khalil, the recent Columbia graduate and Palestinian activist who was detained by immigration enforcement agents earlier this month, and has ordered the case transferred to New Jersey.

Khalil, a permanent US resident with a green card who helped lead Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests last spring, was arrested in New York on 8 March by federal immigration authorities. He was transferred first to New Jersey and then to Louisiana, where he is currently detained.

The Trump administration sought his deportation but two days after his arrest, the New York federal judge, Jesse Furman, ordered that Khalil not be deported while his legal challenge continues.

Federal prosecutors then asked the New York court handling the case to transfer Khalil’s challenge to his arrest and detention to Louisiana.

Khalil’s lawyers have advocated for his return to New York. They have requested that he be released on bail, which would allow him to reunite with his wife, an American citizen who is due to give birth next month.

In his order on Wednesday morning, Furman explained that, given the fact that Khalil was in detention in New Jersey at the time his lawyers submitted their petition, meant that the New York court “lacks jurisdiction over most, if not all, of Khalil’s claims”.

Furman further stated that since the district of New Jersey was “the one and only district in which Khalil could have filed his Petition when he did”, the legal statutes governing the transfer of civil cases from one federal district court to another “dictate that the case be sent there”, rather than Louisiana.

Furman added that his order from 10 March – barring the government from deporting Khalil while the legal challenge continues – shall also remain in effect, “unless and until the transferee court orders otherwise”.

Khalil’s lawyers have submitted requests for his immediate release, but as of Wednesday morning, Furman has not ruled on those bids, focusing instead on the jurisdiction question.

Khalil has not been accused of a crime and his legal team has argued that the Trump administration is unlawfully retaliating against him for his activism and constitutionally protected speech.

They assert that his detention violates his constitutional rights, including the rights to free speech and due process, and that the arrest and detainment exceeds the government’s legal authority.

The Trump administration has accused the former student of leading and engaging in “activities aligned to Hamas” and is seeking to deport him using a rarely invoked legal provision from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

This provision gives the US secretary of state the power to remove individuals from the US if their presence is deemed to “have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.

Khalil released his first public statement since the arrest on Tuesday.

In the statement, Khalil spoke out against the conditions facing immigrants in US detention and said he was being targeted by the Trump administration for his political beliefs.