April 1 (UPI) — Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s case will remain in New Jersey after a federal judge Tuesday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to transfer the case to Louisiana, where Khalil is being held.
“The court’s jurisdiction is not defeated by the petitioner having been moved to Louisiana,” the judge ruled from Newark.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz called the government’s argument to move Khalil’s case “unpersuasive.” Khalil was briefly detained in Manhattan before being transferred to a facility in New Jersey following his arrest last month.
“The petitioner was in custody in New Jersey as of March 9 at 4:40 a.m.,” Farbiarz wrote. “And under a federal statute, the petition, though filed in New York, must be treated as having been filed in New Jersey on March 9 at 4:40 a.m. Therefore, this court has jurisdiction.”
Khalil, who is a Palestinian refugee raised in Syria, remains in federal custody in Louisiana following his arrest last month. The Columbia graduate student was the lead student negotiator at the Ivy League school’s New York City campus in 2024 as student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza drew nationwide attention. He was arrested March 8 at his campus apartment.
Khalil is married to an American citizen who is eight months pregnant. He is a green card and student visa holder, but his attorney says the U.S. State Department is working to revoke both.
The Trump administration says Khalil is being held as the government seeks to deport him for his role in campus protests against Israel. The administration recently pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia over what it called the school’s failure to control pro-Palestinian violence on campus.
“He was taken by U.S. government agents in retaliation, essentially, for exercising his First Amendment rights, for speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, for being critical of the U.S. government and of the Israeli government,” claimed Khalil’s attorney Ramzi Kassem.
This is the second time the Justice Department has tried to move Khalil’s case. After his arrest, attorneys for the Trump administration argued successfully that the case should be moved from New York to New Jersey. The second motion was filed to transfer the case from New Jersey to Louisiana, where the case could have gone before one of the country’s more conservative appeals courts.
“I am relieved at the court’s decision today to keep my husband’s ongoing case in New Jersey,” Khalil’s wife Dr. Noor Abdalla said Tuesday, as she called him a “political prisoner.”
“This is an important step towards securing Mahmoud’s freedom, but there is still a lot more to be done.”
