WASHINGTON — Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student, has asked the Supreme Court to let federal judges quickly decide whether immigration detentions are legal. He argues that people should not be held for months or years without a judge’s review, according to NBC News and the Associated Press.
Khalil filed the request on Monday, Oct. 19. He spent more than three months in immigration detention before a judge ordered him freed after finding the detention unconstitutional.
How the case got here
Immigration agents arrested Khalil in March 2025 in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan. He became one of the most prominent figures among foreign students detained during the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism. A federal district judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, ordered his release in June 2025.
In January 2026, a 2-1 panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Farbiarz did not have jurisdiction. The panel said Khalil’s claims under the Immigration and Nationality Act could not be heard in a district court and should instead be raised in an appeal of a removal order from an immigration judge. In May, the full 3rd Circuit voted 6-5 along ideological lines not to reconsider that ruling, Reuters reported.
The removal order
The Board of Immigration Appeals rejected Khalil’s appeal of an immigration judge’s order in April. The order says he could be removed to Algeria or Syria. Khalil is also appealing that order to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and has asked the immigration board to reopen his case.
What he is asking now
Khalil’s latest request asks the Supreme Court to allow federal judges to move quickly in cases that challenge immigration detention. His supporters say the 3rd Circuit’s ruling left people open to long detention without a meaningful court check. Baher Azmy, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, has said the ruling is dangerous for non-citizens beyond Khalil.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said it will work to enforce his removal order. For more on the department’s enforcement activity, see our report on ICE gang-related arrests.
What’s next
The Supreme Court has not said whether it will take up the request. This story will be updated when it responds.
