New York, New York - Palestinian rights activist Mahmoud Khalil is appealing an immigration judge's decision that opened the door for the Trump administration to re-detain and deport him.

Last September, an immigration judge in Louisiana gave the Trump administration the green light to deport Khalil, claiming he had "willfully misrepresented material fact(s)" on his US green card application.

Khalil has disputed the government's allegations. His lawyers say the green card application charge was only added after a federal court determined US foreign policy interests to be the original reason for his detention.

In a Monday filing to the Board of Immigration Appeals, Khalil's legal team called for a reversal of the immigration judge's decision and the termination of the proceedings.

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"The Trump administration will stop at nothing to try to silence Mahmoud and retaliate against him for his strong advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and against the horrors inflicted upon them in Gaza. The misrepresentation charge regarding his green card application is completely baseless, and no truly independent judge could possibly have sustained it," Khalil's immigration lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout, said in a statement.

"From day one, the Trump administration’s hand-picked Louisiana immigration judge denied out of hand every motion Mahmoud brought without even the pretense of providing him with his constitutional right to a fair hearing."

Khalil was arrested in New York City in March 2025 by plainclothes immigration officials who did not have a warrant. The 31-year-old Columbia University graduate was transferred to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where he spent more than 100 days behind bars and missed the birth of his first child.

The Trump administration has cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act as the basis for its actions, claiming that Khalil's presence in the US would have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the country.

Khalil was freed from ICE detention in June after a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release on bail.

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Earlier this year, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, determining that an immigration court should have adjudicated the case.

"No fabrications, ideological attacks, or smear campaigns will change the fact that the government’s after-the-fact charges are retaliatory, baseless and have absolutely no support in the record," Khalil said this week.

"I’ll keep fighting for my right and every other person’s right to speak out against injustice, advocate for Palestinian liberation, and live in peace with their families."

Khalil's legal team maintains that no matter what the Board of Immigration Appeals decides, their client cannot be lawfully re-detained while his federal case continues to play out.