A former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist plans to petition the U.S. Supreme Court following a federal appeals court decision that brings the government closer to removing him from the country, according to his legal representatives.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rejected a request for a full court review by a narrow 6-5 margin on Friday. Earlier this year in January, a three-judge panel from the same circuit determined that a New Jersey federal judge lacked authority when he sided with Mahmoud Khalil and ordered his release from immigration custody last year.
Legal representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, who are part of Khalil’s defense team, announced they will seek an emergency order from the 3rd Circuit to halt enforcement of the ruling and prevent Khalil’s detention or removal while pursuing Supreme Court review.
The high court petition is anticipated within the coming months, potentially by late summer.
“Today’s decision is not the final word, and we still strongly believe in our arguments going forward,” stated ACLU senior counsel Brett Max Kaufman.
The January appeals court ruling determined that Khalil’s legal challenge to his detention and subsequent federal court decisions were filed too early, as federal law mandates such disputes must first proceed through the immigration court system under the Justice Department rather than the judicial branch.
The ruling did not address the central constitutional question in Khalil’s situation: whether the Trump administration’s attempt to remove him based on his campus activism and criticism of Israel violates constitutional protections.
Judge Cheryl Ann Krause, who supported the court’s review of the decision, criticized the majority in her dissent, writing that the court was “abdicating our duty to meaningfully review Khalil’s constitutional claims.” She argued the Judicial Branch cannot serve as a proper check on other government branches “if we write ourselves out of relevance and leave the Executive Branch to check itself.”
The 31-year-old Khalil has simultaneously appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana, where he was held in custody, challenging the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision to uphold his removal order.
Khalil’s legal team contends the immigration judge failed to properly evaluate relevant evidence and incorrectly upheld allegations that he provided false information on his permanent resident application. His attorneys maintain this charge was filed as retaliation for his protest activities.
The immigration court suggested Khalil could be sent to Algeria, where he holds citizenship through a distant family connection, or Syria, his birthplace in a refugee camp to Palestinian parents. His legal team warns he would face life-threatening dangers if returned to either location.
As a prominent voice in Columbia’s pro-Palestinian movement, Khalil was taken into custody in March 2025 and subsequently held for three months at a Louisiana immigration facility, causing him to miss his child’s birth.
Government officials have alleged Khalil led activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not provided supporting evidence and have not filed criminal charges. They also claim he omitted required information from his green card application.
Khalil has rejected these accusations as “baseless and ridiculous,” describing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
The government based the arrest on a rarely invoked law permitting removal of non-citizens whose beliefs are considered threatening to U.S. foreign policy objectives. In June 2025, Judge Michael Farbiarz determined this justification would likely be found unconstitutional and ordered Khalil’s release.
The Trump administration challenged that decision, maintaining that deportation matters should be decided by immigration judges rather than federal courts. The 3rd Circuit sided with the administration in a 2-1 ruling.
Judge Emil Bove, who previously investigated student protesters as a senior Justice Department official, did not take part in the 3rd Circuit’s vote on whether to review the case. He subsequently denied a motion from Khalil’s lawyers requesting his recusal, declaring the request moot.
