Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil urge judge to release him from ICE custody in Louisiana
Judge hears Mahmoud Khalil deportation case
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and legal U.S. resident, is fighting deportation after being detained by immigration officials over his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. FOX 5’s Linda Schmidt reports from Newark, New Jersey, where Khalil’s attorneys appeared before a federal judge on Friday. They argued for his release from an immigration detention center in Louisiana, calling his detention "Kafkaesque" and a threat to free speech.
NEW YORK - Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, appeared before a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday to seek his release from an immigration detention center in Louisiana.
The Trump administration has been pushing to deport Khalil and other student demonstrators over their involvement in campus protests against Israel.
"We gave you a visa to study and earn a degree, not to become a social activist and tear up our university campuses," Sen. Marco Rubio said during a stop in Guyana this week.
Khalil, 30, was arrested on March 8 at his university-owned apartment in New York and later transferred to an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he remains in custody.
His attorneys argue that Khalil’s detention is politically motivated, calling it a "Kafkaesque" attempt to suppress free speech.
The backstory:
The court fight in Newark is a continuation of one that started in New York City, but transferred after a judge determined a federal court in New Jersey was the proper jurisdiction for the case.
Protests are expected to take place outside the courtroom around 10 a.m.
Among the first issues for the new judge is whether to keep the case or transfer it again. The Trump administration wants it moved to Louisiana.
What is Khalil accused of?
U.S. officials have accused Khalil of failing to disclose his work history on his immigration paperwork, including work at a British embassy and an internship with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
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The ruling gives Chung temporary relief and complicates the Trump administration’s push to deport noncitizens over protests it claims support Hamas.
Trump's argument
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L) speaks as US President Donald Trump hosts a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 24, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP vi
The Trump administration is seeking to deport Khalil under a rarely used statute that allows for removing noncitizens who pose "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration has revoked the visas of at least 300 people, including a Tufts student, Rumeysa Ozturk: "We do it every day."
Students detained by ICE
Other students and faculty that have been arrested by immigration officials include:
- Momodou Taal, a Gambian student at Cornell University in upstate New York
- Badar Khan Suri, an Indian scholar at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
- Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese doctor at Brown University’s medical school in Rhode Island
- Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University in Massachusetts
- Yunseo Chung, a Korean student at Columbia who has lived in the country since she was 7
Tufts student detained
Who is Rumeysa Ozturk?
Somerville, MA - March 26: Protesters hold signs reading "Free Rumeysa Ozturk" and "come for one face us all! solidarity forever" during a demonstration at Powder House Park. (Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, a doctoral student at Tufts University, is the latest supporter of Palestinian causes caught in the Trump administration’s crackdown.
She was detained Tuesday by federal officers while walking in Somerville, Massachusetts.
SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 27: Signage and flowers are placed on a tree next to where ICE agents apprehended Tuft University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk on March 27, 2025 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Ozturk was arrested for purported acti
What we know:
By the time a judge ordered her to remain in Massachusetts, she had already been transferred to an ICE detention center in Louisiana, U.S. government lawyers said in a court filing Thursday. They claimed her legal team was informed of the move and given a chance to contact her Wednesday night.
‘What did Rumeysa Ozturk do?’
A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said federal authorities detained Ozturk after an investigation found she had "engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans." The department did not provide evidence of that support.
What they're saying:
"The longer we wait, the more chill there is," said defense attorney Baher Azmy. "Everyone knows about this case and is wondering if they’re going to get picked off the street for opposing U.S. foreign policy."
"They keep passing around the body in an almost Kafkaesque way," Azmy added, referring to the jurisdictional dispute and Khalil’s transfer from state to state.
"No matter what happens in court, what’s most important is for all of us to keep up the pressure," said Ramzi Kassem, another attorney representing Khalil. "To let this government know that it cannot suppress speech."
Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdallah, an American citizen who is pregnant and due next month, attended the hearing and sat in the front row, surrounded by supporters. Demonstrators outside chanted "Free Mahmoud" and held signs with his image.
Meanwhile, friends and colleagues of Ozturk said she was not closely involved in pro-Palestinian protests that broke out on campuses last spring.
Her only known activism, they said, was co-authoring an op-ed in a student newspaper that called on Tufts University to engage with student demands to cut ties with Israel.