You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Federal Judge Gives Columbia Grad Mahmoud Khalil Chance to Challenge Detention in Court

HeadlineApr 30, 2025

A New Jersey federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s attempts to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought by jailed Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, arguing the U.S. government is illegally detaining him for his political views. The court rejected Trump’s attempts to shut down the case before even granting Khalil a hearing. Judge Michael Farbiarz previously found his court could retain jurisdiction over Khalil’s federal case, which could potentially impact other similar cases as Trump’s State Department seeks to deport other international students and recent graduates over their support of Palestinian rights.

In related news, a federal appeals court has temporarily paused the transfer of Tufts University international student Rümeysa Öztürk from an ICE detention center in Louisiana to Vermont. Arguments on that case are scheduled for next week.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top