Mahmoud Khalil turns to US Supreme Court in bid to block deportation after legal setback

Molly Crane-Newman and Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on May 22, 2026

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NEW YORK — Lawyers for Palestinian Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil on Friday said they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the Trump administration from deporting him after a federal appeals court declined to revisit the issue.

In a split 6-5 decision, the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals denied Khalil’s request for a full panel of judges to reconsider a prior ruling that dealt a blow to Khalil’s efforts to remain in the country. That decision found a federal court judge, who had sided with Khalil, lacked the authority to weigh in on the lawfulness of a noncitizen’s detention.

Three of the dissenting justices opposed the decision and said it would have profoundly harmful consequences.

“The Judiciary ‘serves as an inseparable element of the constitutional system of checks and balances,’” Judge Cheryl Ann Krause wrote. “We cannot fulfill that role if we write ourselves out of relevance and leave the Executive Branch to check itself.”

In a statement, Khalil’s team said they would seek an immediate stay preventing the Trump administration from removing him from the U.S. while they petition the nation’s highest court.

“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,” said Brett Kaufman, an attorney for Khalil from the American Civil Liberties Union.

“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.”

Khalil, a green card holder, has been fighting his deportation since March 2025, spending the first 100 days in a detention facility after the Trump administration said he should be expelled from the country due to his political advocacy protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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