Appeals Court Reverses Decision That Released Columbia University Activist Mahmoud Khalil

(Heather Khalifa/AP photo)

A federal appeals court has reversed the decision to release Columbia University grad student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention last year.

A three-judge panel at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that a federal district court in New Jersey did not have the authority to order Khalil’s release in June 2025.

“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”

Khalil was ordered released from detention by Judge Michael Farbiarz in June.

Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, was arrested at his on-campus apartment back in March 2025 after officials within President Donald Trump’s administration — including Trump himself — insisted that the graduate student organized pro-Hamas activities at Columbia.

A judge later ruled that he could be deported, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly maintained he could revoke Khalil’s student visa.

“Every day now we’re approving visa revocations, and if that visa led to a green card, the green card process as well,” Rubio said at the time.

Messages left for Khalil by the Associated Press were not returned.