Lawyers for the former student leader are seeking an annulment of the Court of Appeal’s decision upholding his dismissal.
Published October 19, 2026
Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has petitioned the US Supreme Court to reconsider the court’s ruling, which could pave the way for his rearrest and deportation.
On Monday, Khalil’s lawyers filed an emergency motion with the high court asking for an immediate stay of the Philadelphia 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling.
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The court had ruled that federal law should have prohibited lower courts from ordering Khalil’s release from immigration detention in June 2025.
Instead, the appeals court said Mr. Khalil’s detention should have first been considered in immigration court, a system overseen by the executive branch of the U.S. government, rather than in district court, which is part of the judicial branch.
In March 2025, Khalil became the first known student demonstrator to be targeted for his pro-Palestinian views under President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident and former Columbia University graduate student, was arrested inside the student housing complex where he lived with his wife, who is a U.S. citizen.
The push to deport Mr. Khalil has become a flashpoint in the debate over free speech on American campuses.
His Supreme Court petition could lead to a major legal showdown that will determine whether federal courts can intervene when noncitizens face retaliatory detention for speech protected by the First Amendment.
Khalil’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to rule that non-citizens have the right to sue when immigration authorities detain them in retaliation for exercising their right to free speech.
“If the Trump administration can punish anyone for pro-Palestinian speech, this administration or any future administration can punish anyone for any speech,” Khalil said at a press conference Monday.
Trump campaigned for re-election in 2024, pledging to suppress the pro-Palestinian student protests that erupted in 2023.
Columbia University in New York became a center of such activity. Khalil was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and was a spokesperson for a protest group.
However, the Trump administration characterizes pro-Palestinian activities as a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests. As a result, it asserted that it had the legal right to deport non-citizens who took part in such protests.
After his arrest, Mr. Khalil was immediately transferred to an immigration detention center in New Jersey and then Louisiana, where he was held for more than three months.
If the Third Circuit’s ruling stands, Mr. Khalil could be deported to Algeria or Syria.
In May, the Third Circuit narrowly voted 6-5 against reconsidering his case, but the decision won’t go into effect until after Mr. Khalil’s appeal.
He fought deportation and filed habeas corpus cases in both immigration court and federal district court. Both cases are still ongoing.
In April, the Board of Immigration Appeals denied his appeal to immigration court and issued a final order of removal on his case.
On Monday, Columbia University faculty and staff held a moment of silence outside the school’s gates to protest what they called “abducted students” who were taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Placards with portraits of Khalil and student demonstrator Mohsen Mahdawi, among others, were held in the air. Demonstrators called for solidarity with students facing deportation and called for Columbia University to reopen its gates to the public, which had been closed during the protests.
