Khalil, a Palestinian who completed his studies at Columbia University in December, will remain in the US for the time being.
In his order on Wednesday, district judge Jesse Furman explained that, given the fact that Khalil was in detention in New Jersey at the time his lawyers submitted their petition, it meant that the New York court he presides over “lacks jurisdiction over most, if not all, of Khalil’s claims”.
The New Jersey court will now decide whether Khalil’s arrest for pro-Palestinian activism was unconstitutional.
The judge also reaffirmed a previous ruling that blocked Khalil’s deportation in the absence of a court order, which should also remain in effect “unless and until the transferee court orders otherwise”.
Khalil, a permanent US resident with a green card who took part in Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protests last spring, was arrested in New York City on 8 March. He was transferred first to New Jersey and then to Louisiana, where he is currently detained.
Khalil’s legal team argued that if the court allows this case to play out in Louisiana, it would reward the Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to manipulate jurisdiction by transferring Khalil across state lines in the middle of the night.
Hours after his arrest, Khalil’s attorneys filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that ICE’s arrest and detention of Khalil on the basis of his speech and activism for Palestinian human rights violates the Due Process Clause and the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
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.
Khalil’s lawyers have also 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, a US citizen who is due to give birth next month.
Speaking about the judge’s decision, Khalil’s wife, Dr Noor Abdalla, said: “This is a first step, but we need to continue to demand justice for Mahmoud. His unlawful and unjust detention cannot stand. We will not stop fighting until he is home with me.”
Dictated over the phone yesterday, Khalil shared a wide-ranging letter, entitled, “Letter from a Palestinian Political Prisoner in Louisiana”, speaking about the injustices he sees at the Louisiana detention centre to the overnight killing of people in Gaza after the ceasefire was derailed.
He narrates his personal and family history and what he calls Columbia University’s complicity in his arrest and its surrender to federal pressure, which has impacted 22 Columbia students who have been expelled, suspended or had their degrees temporarily revoked.
“I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear. My unjust detention is indicative of the anti-Palestinian racism that both the Joe Biden and Trump administrations have demonstrated over the past 16 months,” Khalil wrote.
He added that while he awaited legal decisions that hold the future of his wife and child in the balance, those who “enabled my targeting remain comfortably at Columbia University. Presidents Shafik, Armstrong, and Dean Yarhi-Milo laid the groundwork for the US government to target me by arbitrarily disciplining pro-Palestinian students and allowing viral doxing campaigns – based on racism and disinformation – to go unchecked.”
“In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices but the fundamental civil liberties of all. Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.”
Khalil’s legal team is seeking his release on bail and is also urging the court to issue a preliminary injunction that would immediately release him from detention and block the Trump administration’s invocation of the foreign policy bar, a vague and rarely-used provision of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.
The foreign policy bar authorises the government to exclude or remove non-citizens whom the US secretary of state designates as foreign policy concerns. The administration is invoking the provision to revoke the visas and green cards of noncitizens who have engaged in speech supportive of Palestinian rights.
The filings say the administration is abusing the INA’s foreign policy provision to retaliate against the constitutionally protected expression of views the administration opposes.
