A federal appeals court is giving Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and lawful permanent resident, more time to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him. The order extends a legal battle that has drawn attention across the country over the intersection of immigration enforcement and political speech.
Khalil was detained in 2025 after participating in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia the previous spring. The Department of Homeland Security argued that his continued presence in the United States would harm the country’s foreign policy interests. Khalil’s attorneys challenged the deportation in federal court, contending that the government’s action unconstitutionally punished constitutionally protected expression.
After Khalil spent months in detention, a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release. The judge ruled that the government had acted unconstitutionally. However, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, finding that the New Jersey court lacked the authority to intervene in the immigration case. The appeals court said the dispute must first be resolved within the immigration court system, as required by federal law.
The appeals court’s latest order grants Khalil more time to contest the deportation proceedings, a procedural reprieve that allows him to continue his legal challenge without facing immediate removal. The ruling did not address the merits of his free-speech claims, focusing instead on the jurisdictional question of which court system holds the authority to hear the case.
Khalil’s case is one of several immigration enforcement actions the Trump administration has brought against non-citizens involved in campus protests. Civil liberties organizations have criticized the broader crackdown as an effort to suppress pro-Palestinian advocacy through deportation threats.