Khalil's legal team asked judges to affirm lower court rulings that ordered his release on bail and found government's actions likely unconstitutional 

October 21st, 2025, Philadelphia — Today, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from lawyers representing Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and graduate of Columbia University who was detained by ICE for over 100 days in retaliation for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. Mr. Khalil’s team asked the appeals court to affirm a lower court’s rulings that ordered his release on bail and barred the government from detaining or deporting him based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s vague and unsupported assertion that Mr. Khalil’s lawful protected speech would “compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”  

“The Trump administration is still trying to bring me back to detention and block the federal court in New Jersey from reviewing my case, the same court that ordered my release and ruled that their actions against me were unlawful. Their intention couldn’t be more clear: They want to make an example of me to intimidate those speaking out for Palestine across the country,” said Mahmoud Khalil. “I’m stating unequivocally: I will continue my legal fight in federal courts for my rights, and for everyone’s right, to free speech.”

Back in June, a federal judge granted Mr. Khalil’s request for a preliminary injunction after concluding that he would continue to suffer irreparable harm if the government continued efforts to detain and deport him on the basis of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination under the “Foreign Policy Ground,” a rarely used federal statute, that Mr. Khali’s lawful protected speech would “compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.” The court also found that Mr. Khalil was likely to succeed on the merits of his constitutional challenge to his detention and attempted deportation on the Foreign Policy Ground, and it ordered his release on bail after determining that he presented neither a danger nor a flight risk. 

“There is no world in which Mahmoud should be torn away from his family for a second time and sent back behind bars,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel in the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. “In this country, the government cannot punish people  just because they don’t like what they have to say, and if it tries, the federal courts have an immediate role to play in stopping that unconstitutional behavior. That’s what the district court did here, and the government’s arguments for reversal are both weak and wrong.” 

The Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) illegally arrested and detained Mr. Khalil in direct retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University. Shortly after, DHS transferred him 1,300 miles away to a Louisiana detention facility — ripping him away from his then eight-months pregnant wife and legal counsel. During the 104 days he remained in ICE custody, Mr. Khalil missed the birth of his first child.

“Since day one, the Trump administration had no legitimate reason to detain Mahmoud Khalil — it was retaliatory and unconstitutional,” said Bobby Hodgson, assistant legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “The law is on our side: in the United States, ideas are not illegal, and government officials can't weaponize a vague immigration law to incarcerate or remove people for expressing opinions with which they disagree.”

On Thursday, the magistrate judge overseeing Mr. Khalil’s case agreed to lift the strict travel restrictions imposed on him since his release on bail, requiring only that the government be given two days’ advance notice of where and how he would travel.

Mr. Khalil is represented by Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the ACLU of New Jersey, and the ACLU of Louisiana.

For all case materials, please see here, here, and here.