❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court decision ordering the release of pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil, effectively reopening the Trump administration’s deportation case against him and the possibility of his detention.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mahmoud Khalil, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Judges Thomas Hardiman, Stephanos Bibas, and Arianna J. Freeman.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The ruling was handed down on January 15, 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Did the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) strip the New Jersey District Court of subject matter jurisdiction? It did.” – Court ruling
🎯IMPACT: The ruling marks a significant setback for Khalil, while highlighting the administration’s stance against foreign pro-Hamas agitators.
A federal appeals court on Thursday reopened the Trump administration’s deportation proceedings against pro-Hamas activist and former Columbia University graduate student, Mahmoud Khalil. In a two-to-one decision, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that the New Jersey District Court Judge Michael E. Farbiarz was not the appropriate authority to rule on Khalil’s petition for release.
“The first question presented is whether the New Jersey District Court had jurisdiction over Khalil’s habeas petition. We hold that it did,” the majority opinion states, continuing: “Our conclusion about habeas jurisdiction requires us to answer a second question: Did the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) strip the New Jersey District Court of subject matter jurisdiction? It did.”
“Because the INA channels ‘[j]udicial review of all questions of law . . . arising from any action taken or proceeding brought to remove an alien from the United States’ into a single petition for review filed with a federal court of appeals, we hold that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over Khalil’s removal proceedings,” the ruling concludes, before ordering Khalil’s habeas petition vacated and dismissed.
Appellate Judges Thomas Hardiman (a Bush appointee) and Stephanos Bibas (a Trump appointee), who made up the Third Circuit panel’s majority, stated that Khalil’s attorneys should first seek legal redress through the federal immigration court system and, only once that avenue is exhausted, file the habeas petition with the federal district court. Judge Arianna J. Freeman (a Biden appointee) dissented, contending that Khalil’s claims of government violations of his fundamental rights should not be dismissed without judicial review.
The ruling is a significant blow to Khalil and his legal team, after his release from federal custody in March of last year. While an appeal is likely, the ruling—for now—transfers the proceedings to the U.S. immigration court system and could result in Khalil being returned to federal custody as his deportation case continues.
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