Mahmoud Khalil to appeal US deportation case to Supreme Court

Mahmoud Khalil, a US permanent resident facing deportation over pro-Palestine advocacy, will appeal to the US Supreme Court. His lawyers say the Trump administration targeted him for protected free speech, and a federal appeals court declined to rehear his case in a 6-5 decision. Khalil has pursued two legal tracks since his March 2025 detention by ICE. One track challenged his detention on civil liberties grounds; a judge ordered his release and barred deportation, but an appeals court later ruled the judge lacked jurisdiction. The other track challenges removal in immigration courts, including an appeal of a Board of Immigration Appeals removal order and claims of procedural abnormalities based on new evidence.

"Mahmoud Khalil, who has been targeted for deportation by the administration of US President Donald Trump over his pro-Palestine advocacy, will appeal his case to the Supreme Court, according to his lawyers. The announcement on Friday came after a federal appeals court in a 6-5 decision declined to rehear Khalil's case challenging his immigration detention."

"Khalil has pursued two legal tracks since his detainment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March 2025. The first challenged his detention on civil liberties grounds, maintaining that his free speech rights as a US permanent resident had been trampled. Last June, a federal judge sided with Khalil, ordering his release from immigration detention and barring his deportation. However, a federal appeals court later ruled that the judge in the initial ruling lacked jurisdiction over the matter."

"Following Friday's decision, that case will now be taken to the top court in the US. Today's decision is not the final word, and we still strongly believe in our arguments going forward, Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement. Federal courts must have the power to step in when the government exploits our country's immigration system to punish people for their constitutionally protected speech."

"If the Trump administration can target, arrest, detain, and deport Mahmoud for his speech, they can do it to anyone expressing an opinion they disagree with. Separately, Khalil's legal team has been challenging his deportation in US immigration courts. Last month, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final order of removal, but Khalil's lawyers have also appealed the ruling. In a filing last week, his lawyers argued that new evidence indicates that Khalil's case was subject to apparent procedural abnormalities."

Read at www.aljazeera.com