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Appeals court reverses release
A federal appeals court reversed a decision to release Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, opening the door to possible detention and eventual deportation from the United States, Univision reported on January 15, 2026.
“The lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student targeted for deportation by the United States government over his pro-Palestine advocacy, have called on an immigration appeals court to reopen and terminate his case”
Univision said Khalil was arrested at his apartment on March 8, 2025, detained for three months at an immigration detention facility in Louisiana, and that in June 2025 a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release.
Univision reported that two of the three judges of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals for the United States in Philadelphia ordered the lower court to dismiss Khalil's habeas corpus petition, with the court saying, "that system guarantees that plaintiffs have a single opportunity, and not none or two."
Univision added that the law prohibits Khalil from "challenging his detention and removal in a habeas corpus petition," and said his lawyers would exhaust all avenues of appeal while an immigration appeals board weighs an earlier order that found he could be deported.
Lawyers call it farcical
Middle East Eye reported that Khalil's lawyers asked the US Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to reopen his immigration case and terminate it entirely, citing a litany of "abnormalities" they say show he did not receive fair treatment under the law.
Middle East Eye said the motion was filed on Thursday and that the BIA issued a final removal order in his case early last month, after which the lawyers argued the judges were not independent because the BIA falls under the control of the executive branch.
Middle East Eye quoted Van Der Hout LLP attorney Johnny Sinodis saying, "It’s clear that the revelations of DOJ misconduct corroborate what we have known since Mahmoud's arrest" and that "the government’s case against Mahmoud must be thrown out."
Middle East Eye also reported that Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside his home in New York City in March 2025 and released three months later, while he continues to fight his case alongside his US citizen wife and child.
Deportation order and next steps
Al Jazeera reported that Khalil called for deportation to be halted in light of new evidence, saying his lawyers want an immigration appeals court to reopen and terminate his case.
Al Jazeera quoted Khalil’s lawyers as saying the new evidence "suggests that the Trump Administration secretly engineered the outcome of his immigration case to make an example of him" and said the appeal came just over a month after the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final order of removal.
Al Jazeera said Khalil was first detained by immigration enforcement agents in March 2025, that he was released from immigration detention in June 2025 following a federal judge’s order, and that an appeals court later ruled the judge did not have jurisdiction over the matter.
Al Jazeera added that Khalil’s legal team said authorities are barred from re-detaining or deporting him during the appeal, and it quoted Johnny Sinodis saying, "the administration has reverse-engineered its desired outcome by weaponising a farcical proceeding littered with abnormalities."
