Federal appeals court judges in Philadelphia on Tuesday expressed skepticism at the Trump administration’s efforts to detain Palestinian Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil once more and deport him, along with its arguments to have the case heard down south.
The government has challenged rulings issued by a New Jersey judge, Michael Farbiarz, this summer, which ordered Khalil released from ICE custody and found his detention was unjustified and likely unconstitutional.
Arguing before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, an attorney for Trump’s Justice Department, Drew Ensign, said the lower court rulings keeping the pro-Palestine activist out of a detention facility and in the U.S. were “indefensible” because they were wrongly decided in New Jersey and not Louisiana, where he was