Mahmoud Khalil asks appeals court to block Trump administration’s efforts to deport him Nation Oct 21, 2025 1:50 PM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Mahmoud Khalil appeared Tuesday in a federal appeals court in Philadelphia as he continues to challenge a deportation case brought by President Donald Trump’s administration over his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University.
The hearing before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals came as the government seeks to overturn a lower court order granting Khalil’s June release from a Louisiana immigration jail.
Khalil’s attorneys have asked the three-judge panel to affirm the district court’s ruling, which prevents federal authorities from detaining him again and beginning the deportation process.
Drew Ensign, an attorney for the government, countered th