Mahmoud Khalil wins battle with Trump administration over court jurisdiction
Newark, New Jersey - A federal judge in New Jersey on Tuesday denied a Trump administration motion to move detained Columbia University graduate and Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil's case to Louisiana.
"The Court’s conclusion: it has jurisdiction over this case and the Respondents’ motion to dismiss must therefore be denied," US District Judge Michael Farbiarz wrote in his 67-page decision, noting that Khalil was in New Jersey at the time of his habeas corpus filing.
"The Petitioner was in custody in New Jersey as of March 9 at 4:40am," the judge ruled.
"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 4:40am. Therefore, this Court has jurisdiction."
Khalil, a green card holder and prominent member of Columbia University's Palestine liberation movement, was transferred to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana after his sudden arrest in New York on March 8. He remains locked up in the Republican-controlled state and is seen by many as a political prisoner.
The Trump administration has sought to transfer the case challenging Khalil's detention to Louisiana, where it thinks it has a better chance at winning. US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan last month moved the case to New Jersey, after previously blocking Khalil's deportation as the legal challenge plays out.
"I am relieved at the court’s decision today to keep my husband’s ongoing case in New Jersey. This is an important step towards securing Mahmoud’s freedom, but there is still a lot more to be done," Dr. Noor Abdalla, Khalil's pregnant wife, shared in a Tuesday press release.
"As the countdown to our son's birth begins and I inch closer and closer to my due date, I will continue to strongly advocate for Mahmoud’s freedom and for his safe return home so he can be by my side to welcome our first child."
Mahmoud Khalil's legal team seeks his release
The Trump administration is justifying Khalil's arrest through a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act which allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if their presence is deemed a threat to US foreign policy.
The recent Columbia graduate is just one of several noncitizen students and academics the Trump administration has detained by invoking the same law in an escalating assault on Palestine solidarity at universities.
In addition to asking the court to order his return from Louisiana, as well as seeking bail, Khalil's attorneys are calling for a preliminary injunction to immediately release him from custody to be reunited with his wife.
If granted, the preliminary injunction would also block Trump's policy of arresting and detaining noncitizens taking a stand for Palestinian human rights.
"We are grateful the court wisely understood that the government cannot try to manipulate the jurisdiction of the United States courts in a transparent attempt to shield their unconstitutional – and frankly chilling – behavior," said Baher Azmy, Khalil's attorney and legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
"We look forward to the next phase of this case, which is to get Mahmoud out of detention and into the arms of his family, and then to prove the Trump administration’s attempted deportation of Mahmoud and others is nothing but unconstitutional retaliation for protected speech."
Cover photo: REUTERS