Attorneys for former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil are set to take on the Trump administration in a New Jersey courtroom Friday as the president’s team fights to deport the anti-Israel activist.
There will be a hearing in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, at 10 a.m. before Judge Michael E. Farbiarz. New York Judge Jesse Furman transferred the case to New Jersey, where Khalil was in custody when his attorneys filed their original writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention.
Khalil has since been moved to Louisiana, though, where the Trump administration wants the case to play out.
Khalil, who holds legal permanent resident status in the U.S., came under the administration’s wrath for his alleged support of Hamas terrorists in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2022 attack on Israel. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
On March 18, Khalil wrote: “In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all. Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances, I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my first-born child.”
Khalil, a native of Syria and citizen of Algeria, entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2022 and later filed to become a permanent resident in 2024.
He is the first target in the Trump administration’s crusade to revoke student visas for participating in protests.
The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, leading to Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreigners’ student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
Protesters rally against the arrest of former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil in New York City on Monday, March 10, 2025. Khalil was one of the main student organizers of the student encampment last year at Columbia University. (Stephanie Keith for Fox News Digital)
DHS and ICE did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Khalil is represented by Amy Greer from Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Alina Das, co-director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University School of Law. Fox News Digital has reached out for comment.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
