WASHINGTON — Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil asked the US Supreme Court on Monday (October 19) to let federal judges quickly determine the legality of immigration-related detentions, so that people cannot be held for months or years without judicial oversight, the Associated Press reported.

In papers filed with the high court, Khalil asked it to overturn a January ruling by the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia that found federal courts do not have jurisdiction to review the legality of such detentions until immigration courts have fully considered each case. A divided appeals panel decided the case on jurisdictional grounds, without deciding whether his detention violated the First Amendment.

Khalil, a lawful permanent US resident and former Columbia University graduate student, was arrested by immigration agents in Manhattan in March 2025 over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia in the spring of 2024. Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a rarely used immigration-law provision, arguing — as the government claimed — that Khalil's presence was harmful to US foreign policy interests. Khalil denies wrongdoing and says he was targeted for his political views; those government allegations against him remain allegations, not findings.

He spent more than three months — 104 days — in detention before US District Judge Michael Farbiarz in New Jersey ordered him freed in June 2025 after finding the government had likely acted unconstitutionally. His wife and their young son are US citizens.

Khalil told a remote news conference on Monday that the appeal was 'bigger than just my ability to stay here,' saying he wanted to ensure immigrants can challenge what he called the administration's unlawful attempts to stop protected speech. He said the administration wants to channel such cases into immigration courts where, in his words, it can control the outcome.

The Department of Homeland Security said on Monday that living in the US is a privilege and maintained that the administration acted within its statutory and constitutional authority in Khalil's case. Reuters reported that Khalil is not at immediate risk of re-detention: a lower-court order barring the government from re-detaining him stays in place until the Supreme Court acts. Appeals courts are split on the underlying question — the 4th Circuit upheld the release of Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri in a similar case — which could increase the chance the justices take up Khalil's petition. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear it.

Sources: Associated Press (via NBC News); Reuters; The New York Times (via Just Security).