Trump Request To Move Mahmoud Khalil’s Case To Louisiana Denied

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — The federal judge handling the court case against Mahmoud Khalil — the Columbia University graduate who was detained by federal agents at campus housing last week — has denied the Trump administration's request to move the trial to Louisiana.

Instead, Khalil will head to federal court in New Jersey.

"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,' Jesse Furman, the U.S. district judge handling the case, wrote in the 31-page opinion and order filing.

The judge also ruled that until the court decides otherwise, Khalil — a legal permanent U.S. resident of Palestinian descent — will remain on American soil for the trial.

Khalil, a green card holder married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested on March 8 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, as part of a Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian protestors on college campuses.

He was first brought to a detention center in New Jersey, before being transferred to one in Louisiana, which is why Furman moved the case to New Jersey's federal court, according to the filing.

The case on Khalil's behalf was only filed in New York because, at the time, there was no information available on Khalil's location, Furman said.

Khalil's arrest happened one day after the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal grants from Columbia and vowed to arrest and deport student activists.

“No president can be allowed to set an ideological litmus test and exclude or remove people from our country who they disagree with," Brett Max Kaufman, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said. Kaufman is one of Khalil's attorneys. "We will not stop fighting until Mr. Khalil is free to return to his family, and until we know that the government will not use this archaic law against anyone else who dares to disagree with it."

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