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Khalil to appeal to Supreme Court to preventing deportation
Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team will seek an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to prevent the pro-Palestinan activist from being deported, according to a statement issued by the New York Civil Liberties Union Friday. The appeal comes after the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied Khalil’s request for the court to rehear his case in a 6-5 decision. It followed a 2-1 decision from January by a three-judge panel on the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned a lower court’s order from last June that freed Khalil from immigration jail. “Today’s decision is not the final word, and we still strongly believe in our arguments going forward,” Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in a statement. “Federal courts must have the power to step in when the government exploits our country’s immigration system to punish people for their constitutionally protected speech. If the Trump administration can target, arrest, detain, and deport Mahmoud for his speech, they can do it to anyone expressing an opinion they disagree with.” Khalil, who is a U.S. permanent resident and is married to a U.S. citizen, was detained in his Columbia University housing in March 2025 and was jailed for more than three months before he was released.
Mahmoud Khalil to appeal US deportation case to Supreme Court
Pro-Palestine advocate takes claim that Trump administration targeted him for protected free speech to top US court.Mahmoud Khalil, who has been targeted for deportation by the administration of US President Donald Trump over his pro-Palestine advocacy, will appeal his case to the Supreme Court, according to his lawyers.The announcement on Friday came after a federal appeals court – in a 6-5 decision – declined to rehear Khalil’s case challenging his immigration detention.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump administration seeks billions from Harvard in anti-Semitism lawsuitlist 2 of 3Rights groups, Milwaukee leaders slam ICE’s arrest of Palestinian advocatelist 3 of 3Threats over Iran war bare Trump efforts to transform free speech: Analystsend of listKhalil has pursued two legal tracks since his detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March 2025.The first challenged his detention on civil liberties grounds, maintaining that his free speech rights as a US permanent resident had been trampled.Last June, a federal judge sided with Khalil, ordering his release from immigration detention and barring his deportation. However, a federal appeals court later ruled that the judge in the initial ruling lacked jurisdiction over the matter.Following Friday’s decision, that case will now be taken to the top court in the US.“Today’s decision is not the final word, and we still strongly believe in our arguments going forward,” Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement.“Federal courts must have the power to step in when the government exploits our country’s immigration system to punish people for their constitutionally protected speech. If the Trump administration can target, arrest, detain, and deport Mahmoud for his speech, they can do it to anyone expressing an opinion they disagree with.”Separately, Khalil’s legal team has been challenging his deportation in US immigration courts.Last month, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final order of removal, but Khalil’s lawyers have also appealed the ruling.In a filing last week, his lawyers argued that new evidence indicates that Khalil’s case was subject to “apparent procedural abnormalities”.They pointed to a report by The New York Times that found that Khalil’s case had been flagged as high priority before it had arrived at the Board of Immigration Appeals, in what his lawyers say indicated the case was being “fast-t...
Mahmoud Khalil to appeal to Supreme Court to halt deportation
Pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil to appeal to Supreme Court in effort to halt deportation A divided U.S. appeals court refused to revisit a ruling limiting judicial authority in Mahmoud Khalil’s case, potentially allowing his re-arrest, deportation. 2 min read 22 May, 2026 Pro-Palestine activist was arrested in 2025 following protests at Columbia university [Getty] A divided federal appeals court on Friday declined to reconsider a ruling in Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil's case that opened the door to President Donald Trump's administration re-arresting and deporting the pro-Palestinian activist. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 6-5 vote rejected Khalil's request to revisit a ruling a 2-1 panel of the Philadelphia-based court delivered in January that had concluded a lower-court judge had no jurisdiction to order his release from immigration detention last year. He was among the most prominent of a number of foreign students detained last year by immigration authorities after engaging in pro-Palestinian activism on their college campuses as part of a broad effort by the Trump administration. Six judges appointed by Republican presidents were in the majority, while five Democratic appointees voted to rehear the case, including U.S. Circuit Judge Cheryl Ann Krause, who said the court's decision handcuffed the judiciary's ability to protect the civil liberties of non-citizens like Khalil. "We cannot fulfill that role if we write ourselves out of relevance and leave the Executive Branch to check itself," wrote Krause, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama. Baher Azmy, a lawyer for Khalil at the Center for Constitutional Rights, in a statement vowed to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Khalil's case and overturn the 3rd Circuit's "dangerous" decision. “That ruling greenlights holding someone in prolonged, brutal detention conditions without access to meaningful judicial review in order to punish them and deter others from dissenting from U.S. foreign policy," he said.
Mahmoud Khalil to Appeal to Supreme Court in Effort to Halt Deportation ...
The move was expected to come after a federal appeals court on Friday ruled against Mr. Khalil, who became the face of President Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters.
