US court rejects Trump bid to dismiss Mahmoud Khalil deportation challenge
Uploaded: Mar 19, 2025
A federal court in the United States has dismissed an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismiss Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil’s legal challenge against his detention and deportation.
Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and legal permanent resident, has been held by the government since March 8 in a push to deport him over his participation in campus protests for Gaza last year.
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On Wednesday, Judge Jesse Furman ruled that Khalil’s legal request for a judicial review against his detention, known as a habeas corpus petition, must proceed. The Trump administration had asked the court to reject the challenge.
- Furman noted that Khalil is arguing that the effort to deport him violates his rights to free speech and due process, which are guaranteed under the US Constitution.
“These are serious allegations and arguments that, no doubt, warrant careful review by a court of law; the fundamental constitutional principle that all persons in the United States are entitled to due process of law demands no less,” Fruman wrote in his ruling.
He described Khalil’s ordeal as an “exceptional case”
- The government sought to move the case to Louisiana, a Republican-dominated state, where Khalil is currently detained in an immigration enforcement facility.
- Furman said that his previous order barring the government from deporting Khalil must remain in place while the case is under review. But he did not rule on the activist’s request to be released on bail, leaving the matter to the New Jersey court that will oversee the petition.
- He ordered the court clerk to transfer the petition “immediately”, but there is no exact date for when the New Jersey Court will rule or schedule hearings on the case.
- The US government has not charged Khalil with a crime. Instead, US officials have accused him of “activities aligned to Hamas”.
- But Khalil’s supporters say he engaged in peaceful protests against Columbia University’s ties to the Israeli military as part of the wave of campus demonstrations that swept the country last year.
Judge says Columbia protestor must remain in US for now,..
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