The lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student ordered deported for pro-Palestinian activism, urged an immigration appeals court to reopen and dismiss the case against him. The latest appeal cites evidence, including media reports, that ‘the Trump administration secretly rigged his immigration outcome to make an example of him.’
The move comes more than a month after the Board of Immigration Appeals ordered Khalil’s removal. He was first detained by immigration enforcement in March 2025, one of several students targeted for participating in pro-Palestinian campus protests across the U.S. the previous year.
Khalil, a U.S. green-card holder married to an American citizen, has consistently asserted he was unfairly targeted for his political views. His legal team says ‘clear procedural irregularities’ reinforce this.
Attorney Johnny Sinodis, representing Khalil, said: ‘It is clear that the revelations about the Department of Justice’s misconduct confirm what we have known since Mahmoud was seized – that the administration retroactively engineered a desired outcome by weaponizing a sham proceeding riddled with irregularities.’
The new evidence includes a New York Times report showing Khalil’s case was marked for high-priority treatment before it reached the Board of Immigration Appeals, indicating the case was ‘fast-tracked.’ The report also revealed the board was instructed to treat Khalil’s case as though he were still in detention, resulting in faster processing.
Khalil was released from an immigration detention center in June 2025 on a federal judge’s order. A higher court later ruled that judge lacked jurisdiction in the matter. Khalil is appealing that decision, during which authorities are barred from detaining or deporting him.
The report further revealed three judges on the Board of Immigration Appeals recused themselves from hearing the case. While reasons were not disclosed, experts familiar with the board’s processes said the recusal rate is extremely rare.
The Board of Immigration Appeals is nominally independent but sits within the Department of Justice under the executive branch, which critics argue makes it more susceptible to interference. The Trump administration has framed Khalil’s deportation as part of a crackdown on antisemitism, but has offered no evidence against him, and Khalil has never been criminally charged.
This week, news site The Intercept reported that shortly after Khalil’s detention, the FBI closed an investigation into a tip that Khalil had called for ‘violence on behalf of Hamas,’ citing no need for further inquiry.
In targeting Khalil, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows deportation of individuals deemed a national security threat based on ‘past, present, or expected beliefs, statements or associations.’ The administration later added an allegation that Khalil willfully failed to disclose prior work for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in his immigration application.
Administration officials continue to defend the charges and say Khalil received due process. In a statement Friday, Khalil said: ‘The administration wants to arrest, detain and deport me to intimidate everyone who speaks up for Palestine across this country, and they are willing to break long-standing U.S. rules and procedures to do so.’ He added: ‘No lies, corruption or ideological repression will stop me from supporting Palestine and everyone’s right to free speech.’
