Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have asked appeals judges in the United States to keep in place a lower court’s order that freed the Palestine solidarity activist from immigration detention.

Khalil – whom the US government is trying to deport over his activism at Columbia University last year – told supporters outside the courtroom in Philadelphia after the hearing on Tuesday that his case is proving to be a “test for everyone’s rights”.

He suggested that there “is no immediate risk” of his being re-detained.

“Nothing should deter anyone from speaking out for the liberation of Palestine, for the rights of immigrants everywhere,” Khalil said .

Government lawyers are trying to get a three-judge panel on the court of appeals to reverse the decision to free him, arguing that the federal d

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