Appeals Court Reverses Release of Activist Khalil

A federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled on Thursday to reverse a lower court's order releasing Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, clearing the way for potential re-detention as the government pursues his deportation.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructed a federal district court in New Jersey to dismiss Khalil's habeas corpus petition, which had secured his release in June. The panel found that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the challenge to his detention. Federal immigration laws, the judges wrote, require such deportation-related claims to be raised through a petition for review of a final removal order filed directly with a federal appeals court, rather than in a lower district court. "That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple, not zero or two," the majority opinion stated, adding that the process means some individuals, including Khalil, must wait to address allegations of unlawful government actions. The law, they concluded, bars habeas petitions in this context.

Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent U.S. resident and recent Columbia University graduate,...