An appeals court justice rejected an order freeing Khalil from immigration detention, potentially enabling him to be re-arrested.
Published on January 15, 2026
A United States appeals court panel has moved to dismiss a Palestinian activist’s petition Mahmood Khalil Challenged his detention and deportation, prompting President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a two-to-one decision Thursday, the justices concluded that the federal court that ordered Khalil’s release last year lacked jurisdiction over the case.
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The decision allows for the re-arrest of Khalil, who last year gave birth to his first child while detained by immigration officials. His lawyer is likely to appeal the decision.
The Palestinian activist, born in Syria and holding Algerian citizenship, is a legal permanent resident and married to a US citizen.
Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University, is one of dozens of foreign students targeted for deportation by the Trump administration over his criticism of Israel.
Rights advocates argue that the campaign violated US free speech rights to prevent criticism of a foreign nation.
Khalil’s case was proceeding along two tracks: one through a habeas corpus petition in federal court, which argued that his detention was illegal, and another in administrative immigration court, which challenged his removal.
The appeals panel sided with the government’s argument that only immigration courts have jurisdiction over the matter under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
“Our holdings support essential principles of prohibition and immigration law,” the court said.
“The scheme governing the immigration process enacted by Congress provides Khalil with a meaningful forum in which to later raise his claims—in a petition for review of the final order of removal. We therefore vacate and remand Khalil’s detention petition with instructions to dismiss.”
It is unclear how the decision will immediately affect the wider case of Khalil and the trials of other students like him. A federal court has freed several students – including Turkish scholar Rumeysa Ozturk – based on ban petitions.