Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was deported by the U.S. government for his pro-Palestinian views, have asked the Court of Immigration Appeals to reopen and discontinue the case.
The latest legal appeal points to new evidence documented in media reports that Khalil’s lawyers say “suggests that the Trump administration secretly manipulated the outcome of his immigration case to make an example of him.”
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This comes just over a month after the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final order of removal against Mr. Khalil. Mr. Khalil was first detained by immigration enforcement officers in March 2025 and was one of several students targeted for participation in pro-Palestinian campus protests that swept across the United States the previous year.
Khalil, a permanent resident of the United States and married to an American, has long argued that he has been unfairly targeted for his political views.
His lawyers said Friday that “obvious procedural anomalies” support that view.
“It is clear that the Justice Department’s revelations of wrongdoing confirm what we have known since Mahmoud’s arrest: that the administration reverse-engineered its desired outcome by weaponizing a farcical process riddled with anomalies,” Johnny Synodis, an attorney representing Mr. Khalil, said in a statement.
The new evidence includes a New York Times report that found Mr. Khalil’s case was flagged as a high-priority case before it was submitted to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which his lawyers argue shows the case is being “advanced.”
Citing case documents, the report said courts were instructed to treat Mr. Khalil’s case as if he were still in custody, which would typically result in an expedited processing schedule.
Mr. Khalil was released from immigration custody in June 2025 following a federal judge’s order. The Court of Appeals subsequently ruled that the judge lacked jurisdiction over the issue. He is also appealing the decision, during which authorities are prohibited from re-detaining him or deporting him.
The New York Times report also revealed that three judges on the Immigration Appeals Board recused themselves from the case. The reasons for the revocations were not made public, but experts familiar with the commission’s procedures said the rate of revocations was extremely rare.
The Immigration Appeals Board is intended to be independent. Critics say the court, like other immigration courts, falls under the jurisdiction of the executive branch’s Justice Department, making it susceptible to interference.
Other federal courts are subject to the independence of the judiciary.
The Trump administration has called Khalil’s deportation part of a crackdown on anti-Semitism. They have not presented any evidence to support the allegations against him, and Mr. Khalil has never been charged with a crime.
This week, The Intercept reported that shortly after Mr. Khalil was detained by immigration officials, the FBI said there was no need for further investigation and had ended its investigation into a tip that Mr. Khalil had called for “violence on behalf of Hamas.”
In targeting Mr. Khalil, Secretary of State Marko invoked a rarely used provision of immigration and nations law that allows for the deportation of individuals deemed to be a national security threat based on “past, present, or anticipated beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful.”
The operation raised questions about freedom of speech and whether those protections extend to permanent residents like Mr. Khalil. The government later added allegations that Mr. Khalil did not disclose his past work with the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) on his immigration application.
Administration officials have repeatedly stood by the allegations and said Mr. Khalil received proper due process.
Khalil said in a statement Friday that the administration “wants to arrest, detain, and deport me to intimidate everyone who speaks out for Palestine across this country, and is willing to violate long-standing U.S. rules and procedures to do so.”
He added: “No amount of lies, corruption or ideological persecution will stop me from advocating for Palestine and everyone’s right to free speech.”
