Mahmoud Khalil to appeal US deportation case to Supreme Court

Pro-Palestine advocate takes claim that Trump administration targeted him for protected Free Speech to top US court.Mahmoud Khalil, who has been targeted for deportation by the administration of US President Donald Trump over his pro-Palestine advocacy, will appeal his case to the Supreme Court, according to his lawyers.The announcement on Friday came after a federal appeals court – in a 6-5 decision – declined to rehear Khalil’s case challenging his Immigration detention.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump administration seeks billions from Harvard in anti-Semitism lawsuitlist 2 of 3Rights groups, Milwaukee leaders slam ICE’s arrest of Palestinian advocatelist 3 of 3Threats over Iran war bare Trump efforts to transform Free Speech: Analystsend of listKhalil has pursued two legal tracks since his detainment by Immigration-and-customs-enforcement" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="2271" data-entity-type="organization">Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March 2025.The first challenged his detention on civil liberties grounds, maintaining that his Free Speech rights as a US permanent resident had been trampled.Last June, a federal judge sided with Khalil, ordering his release from Immigration detention and barring his deportation. However, a federal appeals court later ruled that the judge in the initial ruling lacked jurisdiction over the matter.Following Friday’s decision, that case will now be taken to the top court in the US.“Today’s decision is not the final word, and we still strongly believe in our arguments going forward,” Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement.“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. 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.”Separately, Khalil’s legal team has been challenging his deportation in US Immigration courts.