Mahmoud Khalil and Trump admin clash over new request to release or transfer him closer to family

Attorneys for Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the Trump administration clashed in court over Khalil’s renewed request to be released on bail or, at least, transferred to a detention center in New Jersey to be closer to family

Attorneys for Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the Trump administration clashed in court over Khalil’s renewed request to be released on bail or, at least, transferred to a detention center in New Jersey to be closer to family.

Both parties submitted new filings after U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz declined to release Khalil last week. While Farbiarz had blocked Khalil’s detention and deportation based on allegations that his presence in the country threatened U.S. foreign policy, the administration argued that it would continue to detain Khalil, alleging he lied on his permanent residency application.

Farbiarz previously said it was "overwhelmingly likely" that Khalil wouldn’t be detained solely over allegations related to his residency application. However, he ultimately sided with the government, finding that Khalil's legal team hadn’t successfully argued why detention on those grounds would be unlawful.

Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and former Columbia University student, was arrested in March by immigration agents and has been held since then at a facility in rural Jena, Louisiana. He played an active role in the protests over the war in Gaza on the New York City campus last year, negotiating between the student protesters and the university administration.

His attorneys urged the court this week to immediately release him from the Louisiana detention center on bail, adding that the administration’s efforts to keep him detained based on allegations of omissions in an immigration application were "rare and extremely unusual."