US court hands Trump victory against pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil | Courts News

Appeals court justice dismiss order that released Khalil from immigration detention, potentially enabling his re-arrest.

An appeals court panel in the United States has moved to dismiss a petition by Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil challenging his detention and deportation, handing a boost to the administration of President Donald Trump.

In a two-to-one ruling on Thursday, the judges concluded that the federal court that ordered Khalil’s release last year lacked jurisdiction over the matter.

The ruling potentially enables the re-arrest of Khalil, who missed the birth of his first child while he was detained by immigration authorities last year. His lawyers are likely to appeal the decision.

The Palestinian activist, born in Syria and holding Algerian citizenship, is a lawful permanent resident and married to a US citizen.

Khalil, who was pursuing a graduate degree at Columbia University, is one of dozens of foreign students that the Trump administration has targeted for deportation over their criticism of Israel.

Rights advocates argue that the campaign violates US free speech rights to stifle criticism of a foreign nation.

Khalil’s case was advancing on two tracks: one in federal court through a habeas corpus petition, which argued that his detention was illegal, and another in the administrative immigration courts, which challenged his removal.

The appeals panel sided with the government’s argument that only the immigration courts had jurisdiction over the matter, in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

“Our holdings vindicate essential principles of habeas and immigration law,” the court said.

“The scheme Congress enacted governing immigration proceedings provides Khalil a meaningful forum in which to raise his claims later on—in a petition for review of a final order of removal. We will therefore VACATE and REMAND with instructions to dismiss Khalil’s habeas petition.”

It is not clear how the ruling will immediately affect Khalil’s broader case and the ordeal of other students like him. Federal courts have released several students – including Turkish scholar Rumeysa Ozturk – based on habeas petitions.