Palestinian activist should stay detained in Louisiana, US says

David Voreacos, Bloomberg News on Mar 15, 2025

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NEW YORK — A Palestinian activist who led anti-Israel protests at Columbia University should remain detained in Louisiana and not transferred to New York as he faces deportation proceedings, U.S. lawyers argued in court filings.

A U.S. judge should reject a request by Mahmoud Khalil to move so he can be closer to his attorneys and pregnant wife, lawyers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement argued late Friday. The U.S. is looking to deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident, for activities that have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”

The judge can’t tell ICE where to detain immigrants and “lacks authority to issue an injunction compelling ICE to transfer the petitioner from a detention facility in Louisiana to a detention facility in New York,” according to the filing in Manhattan federal court.

Khalil’s case has emerged as a symbol of the Trump administration’s crackdown on campus protests over the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza. Lawyers for Khalil say his detention violates his constitutional rights to free speech and due process. President Donald Trump says Columbia must deal more forcefully with antisemitism on campus, and he’s cut off $400 million in federal funding.

On Thursday, the school received a letter from the government about “critical next steps” it must take to restore that funding, including banning masks and overhauling admissions policies. Federal agents searched two university residences Thursday night.

Federal agents also arrested Leqaa Kordia, who participated in anti-Israel protests at Columbia, for overstaying her visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and Columbia graduate student, who chose to “self-deport,” it said.

Columbia was the site of prolonged student protests after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, which killed 1,200 people. The U.S. labels Hamas a terrorist organization. Israel’s retaliation against Gaza and Hamas has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

In its filing, U.S. lawyers said U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman should also reject Khalil’s motion that New York is the proper place to hear the case. Khalil was arrested on the night of March 8 and moved to a facility in Newark, New Jersey, but a “bedbug issue” meant he couldn’t stay there. He was taken back to New York, and flown to Louisiana, the U.S. said.

Khalil’s lawyers had filed a petition with the court hours after his arrest, but he was already out of New York by then, government lawyers said. The U.S. wants Furman to dismiss Khalil’s legal challenge or transfer it to New Jersey or Louisiana while his deportation case is decided. Furman has blocked his removal while the case is pending.

In several filings early Saturday, Khalil’s lawyers asked for his release while he fights his deportation. His wife, a dentist and U.S. citizen, is in her eighth month of a difficult pregnancy, they said.

“The President and Secretary of State have posted images of Mr. Khalil online, celebrating his detention,” they wrote. “Now, Mr. Khalil sits in a remote private prison, notorious for poor health care, unable to communicate effectively with counsel without a court order, unable to see his pregnant wife or attend medical appointments with her, and unable to speak freely to the outside world.”