Judge says Columbia protestor must remain in US for now, moves case to NJ

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday said Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil must remain in the United States for now, but moved his challenge to the legality of his arrest over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests to a court in New Jersey.

Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman denied a bid by the Trump administration to dismiss the case, but agreed with the Justice Department that he did not have jurisdiction because Khalil was held in New Jersey at the time his lawyers first challenged his arrest in New York. 

The case has become a flashpoint for Republican President Donald Trump's pledge to deport some non-U.S. citizens who took part in the protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza that swept American college campuses including Columbia after the October 2023 attack against Israelis by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

It will now be up to the New Jersey court to rule on Khalil's bids to declare his arrest unconstitutional, and to be released on bail or moved.

Khalil's lawyers say his wife, an American citizen named Noor Abdallah, cannot visit him in Louisiana, where he is currently being held, because she is eight months pregnant with their first child.

Khalil's lawyer Samah Sisay said in a statement on Wednesday that the government moved him to Louisiana to avoid having the case heard in New York or New Jersey. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that assertion or on Furman's ruling. 

"Mr. Khalil should be free and home with his wife awaiting the birth of their first child, and we will continue to do everything possible to make that happen," Sisay said. 

Khalil, 30, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 8 outside his university residence in Manhattan.

His lawyers have said that he was targeted in retaliation for his role in advocating for Palestinian rights, meaning the arrest violated free speech protections under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. 

Khalil in a letter from detention released on Tuesday by his legal team called himself a "political prisoner."

After his arrest, Khalil was taken to a federal building in lower Manhattan, and later moved to a detention facility in New Jersey in the early morning hours of March 9. His lawyer said she filed his first challenge to his arrest, known as a habeas corpus petition, in Manhattan federal court because an online ICE detainee locator showed he was still in Manhattan. 

In his ruling, Furman said Khalil's petition raised serious allegations that warranted review. But he said there was no dispute that Khalil was in New Jersey at the time the petition was filed, meaning it should be heard there. 

"At the heart of this case is the important question of whether and under what circumstances the Government may rescind a person’s lawful permanent resident status and remove him from the United States," the judge wrote. 

'REASONABLE GROUNDS'

Furman rejected the government's request that the case be moved to Louisiana. If the case had been moved there, any potential appeals would have been heard by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the most conservative in the country. 

Any appeals of decisions in New Jersey would be heard by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is split 6-6 between active judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents. There are two vacancies that Trump can fill. 

Khalil, who is of Palestinian descent, entered the United States on a student visa in 2022 and secured lawful permanent residency - known as a green card - last year.

Khalil became a visible leader of Columbia's pro-Palestinian protest movement while completing coursework for a master's degree in public administration. He is due to graduate in May. 

In ordering his removal, the administration has cited a little-used provision of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act allowing the deportation of any lawful permanent resident whose presence in the country the secretary of state has "reasonable grounds to believe" could harm U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 16 that taking part in "pro-Hamas events" runs counter to U.S. foreign policy. 

Khalil's lawyers have said that their client has no ties to Hamas and acted as a "mediator and negotiator" during the protests.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham, Mark Porter and Noeleen Walder)