Mahmoud Khalil wants the dismissal suspended because of new evidence | Israel-Palestine War News

Lawyers a Mahmoud KhalilA former Columbia University student who is wanted by the United States government for his support for Palestine has asked an immigration appeals court to reopen and dismiss his case.

The latest legal complaint shows new evidence, which was written in the press, that Khalil’s lawyers said “shows that the Trump administration secretly manipulated the results of his immigration case to make an example of him”.

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It comes just over a month after the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a final order to remove Khalil, who was first arrested by immigration officials in March 2025, one of several students targeted for their involvement in the Palestinian school protests that swept the US last year.

Khalil, who is a permanent resident of the United States and married to a United States citizen, has long claimed that people have been persecuted for his political views.

His legal team said Friday that “obvious problems” supported the decision.

“It is clear that the revelations of the DOJ’s wrongdoing confirm what we have known since Mahmoud’s arrest – that the administration has changed its agenda using fraudulent tools that have gone awry,” Johnny Sinodis, an attorney representing Khalil, said in a statement.

The new evidence includes a report by The New York Times that found Khalil’s case was considered a priority before reaching the Board of Immigration Appeals, which his lawyers say shows the case was “rushed”.

The report, citing court documents, also found that the court was instructed to proceed with Khalil’s case if he was still in custody, thereby speeding up the process.

Khalil was released from prison in June 2025 following a federal judge’s order. The appeals court then ruled that the judge had no jurisdiction over the matter. He is appealing the decision, at which time authorities are barred from re-detaining or deporting him.

A report by The New York Times also found that three judges of the Immigration Service rejected the case. Although the reasons for the rejection have not been disclosed, experts familiar with the organization’s operations have said that the number of layoffs is extremely rare.

The Board of Immigration Appeals is supposed to be independent. Like other immigration courts, it is under the Justice Department’s executive branch, which critics say makes it vulnerable to interference.

Some federal courts fall under the jurisdiction of the judicial branch.

The Trump administration has implemented Khalil’s deportation as part of a crackdown on anti-Semitism. He provided no evidence to support the allegations against him, and Khalil was never charged.

This week, The Intercept newspaper reported that immediately after the arrest of the refugees, the FBI closed an investigation into the fact that Khalil had called for “violence on behalf of Hamas”, saying that it was not worth investigating.

Against Khalil, US Secretary of State Marco used the rarely used Immigration and Nationality Act which allows the deportation of people deemed to be a threat to national security based on “past, current or anticipated beliefs, claims, or organizations that are otherwise legitimate”.

The regulation raised questions about free speech and whether that protection extends to residents like Khalil. The government later added that Khalil had deliberately failed to disclose his previous employment to the UN refugee agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in his immigration application.

Administration officials have repeatedly stood by the allegations and maintained that Khalil received due process.

In his statement on Friday, Khalil said that the authorities “want to arrest me, detain me, and deport me to threaten anyone who speaks about Palestine throughout the country, and they are ready to violate the laws and measures that the US has already taken”.

He added: “No amount of lies, corruption, or psychological torture can stop me from supporting Palestine and everyone’s right to free speech.”