A technicality: Appeals court opens door for Palestinian activist’s arrest

A federal appeals court ruled that Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist, never had the right to ask for freedom in the New Jersey court that freed him, bringing the Trump administration one step closer to his arrest and potential deportation.

The ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of appeals, documented by Courthousenews, was on a technicality.

The panel of three judges didn’t rule on whether the Trump administrations plan to throw him out of the U.S. because of campus radicalism and his condemnations of Israel. was allowed.

CHN said, “It’s a massive blow to academics around the country whom the government is seeking to deport for criticisms of Israel, like Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi, who, like Khalil, are lawful residents advocating for Palestinian rights at their respective universities.”

Khalis, whose wife and son are U.S. citizens was arrested when he led protests at Columbia University earlier in 2024. He told the school it needed to divest from Israel.

He was arrested at his Manhattan home, then held for three months when the State Department said his advocacy was harmful to U.S. foreign interests.

Judge Michael Farbiarz, appointed by Joe Biden, later ordered him released.

But Farbiarz never had the right to do that, the ruling said.

It said an immigration judge, not Farbiarz, was the one with the proper authority.