A federal appeals court on Thursday handed the Trump administration a legal win in its effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil, ruling that a lower-court judge lacked the authority to order his release from immigration detention.

In a 2–1 decision, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Khalil’s lawsuit challenging his detention, finding that federal immigration law stripped the district court of jurisdiction over his claims. The ruling clears a procedural hurdle for the administration as it continues to pursue Khalil’s removal from the United States.

Khalil, an Algerian citizen born in Syria to a Palestinian family, became a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on anti-Israel activism and antisemitism on college campuses after his arrest in March. He was detained for several months before securing a court-ordered release in June, a decision the appeals court has now effectively nullified.

While a graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil led Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition that played a central role in disruptive protests that turned the campus into a national focal point following the outbreak of the Gaza war. Jewish and Israeli students, along with a university antisemitism task force, reported widespread antisemitic incidents during that period.

The group has endorsed violence, praised U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, backed the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and circulated Hamas propaganda on campus, according to critics and university officials.

Since his release, Khalil has resumed public activism, appearing at protests and in media interviews. He has defended Hamas’ attack, denied the existence of antisemitism at Columbia and recently met with Bernie Sanders.

The ruling does not end Khalil’s fight against deportation, but it sharply limits the courts he can turn to.

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