The brief, filed before the Board of Immigration Appeals, argues the immigration judge's removal order was baseless, retaliatory, and must be reversed before Mr. Khalil's rights are violated again March 2, 2026 9:00 pm NEW YORK – Following the Trump administration’s unprecedented decision to sustain the baseless, after-the-fact charge related to Mahmoud Khalil’s green card application, Mr. Khalil’s legal team filed an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) today asking that it reverse that decision and terminate the proceedings entirely. This charge was added only after Mr. Khalil challenged his unlawful detention and the use of the foreign policy ground. Regardless of the BIA’s decision, the federal court’s order prohibiting the government from re-detaining or deporting Mr. Khalil as his federal case proceeds remains in effect. “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,” said Mahmoud Khalil. “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." As the brief lays out, the immigration judge rushed to a decision without considering relevant evidence, refused to consider Mr. Khalil’s constitutional challenges to his removal, improperly sustained false, after-the-fact charges — brought by the Trump administration in retaliation for Mr. Khalil’s speech — alleging he misrepresented facts on his green card application, and engaged in multiple procedural irregularities including denying him a hearing on his waiver request. The brief also explains why the secondary charges are factually inaccurate and meritless; how rare it is for an immigration judge to deny a waiver of removability on a charge like Mr. Khalil’s — particularly against a lawful permanent resident with no criminal record and a U.S. spouse and child; and ultimately how the immigration judge’s decision is further evidence of retaliation. “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,“ said Mr. Khalil’s immigration lawyer, Marc Van Der Hout. “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. In almost 50 years of practicing immigration law, I have never seen such a sham proceeding. But federal courts have already agreed that Mahmoud was targeted for his speech — and no amount of bogus made-up charges will change that.” In June 2025, a federal district court in New Jersey ruled that the government’s original justification for initiating immigration proceedings against Mr. Khalil and detaining him amid those proceedings — a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s alleging that Mr. Khalil’s First Amendment-protected speech could affect U.S. foreign policy interests — was likely unconstitutional and blocked his detention and deportation on that basis. After this ruling, the government shifted its justification for his detention to false, pretextual, and retaliatory charges about alleged misrepresentations on his green card application. The district court rejected the government’s new justification and issued a second ruling, ordering his release. As Mr. Khalil’s legal team has thoroughly outlined in court filings, these after-the-fact immigration charges are meritless and retaliatory. Then, on January 15, 2026, in a split 2-1 decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the district court rulings that had found Mr. Khalil’s detention and removal likely unconstitutional and that had ordered Mr. Khalil to be released pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings. While the ruling was only made on technical grounds and not the core First Amendment arguments in his case, it held that the district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over Mr. Khalil’s constitutional challenges to his detention and removal. Instead, it held that those claims must be funneled through immigration proceedings. Since Mr. Khalil still has the opportunity to seek further review of this decision before the full Third Circuit, which he intends to do, the panel’s order is not currently in effect and the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Mr. Khalil at this time. Mr. Khalil is represented by Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), the ACLU of New Jersey, the ACLU of Louisiana, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Related Content Press Release Apr 2026 Free Speech ACLU Celebrates SCOTUS Decision Protecting Organizations from Speech-Chilling State Subpoenas WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Supreme Court decided in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Davenport that nonprofits can seek immediate federal court review of state investigatory subpoenas that they claim chill their First Amendment rights. The decision cites an August amicus brief authored by the Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression (FIRE) and joined by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey that argues in support of groups’ right to seek federal relief. “We’re grateful that the Court has recognized that even before they’re enforced, law enforcement subpoenas seeking sensitive donor information can scare away the supporters that are essential to any nonprofit’s work,” said Brian Hauss, deputy project director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “At a time when government officials throughout the country abuse regulatory powers to punish their ideological opponents, federal courts must remain a venue in which people can vindicate their First Amendment rights.” In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Platkin issued subpoenas under the state’s consumer protections laws to First Choice Women's Resource Centers, a nonprofit that runs anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. The subpoenas sought wide-ranging information about the nonprofit, including the identity of its donors. First Choice challenged the subpoenas in federal court, arguing that the information sought chilled its First Amendments rights to speech and association. The Third Circuit dismissed First Choice’s claims, saying it could not assert its First Amendment rights in federal court until the state enforced the subpoena in state court. “Thankfully, the Court ruled that federal courts remain open for nonprofits to challenge government subpoenas that could be used to target them based on their viewpoint,” said Jeanne LoCicero, legal director of the ACLU of New Jersey. “It is crucial for advocacy organizations – wherever they fall on the political spectrum - to have a legal path to fight retaliatory conduct by government officials.” The FIRE/ACLU brief argued that state law enforcement subpoenas seeking sensitive donor information threaten to chill protected speech and association even before they are enforced in state court. To ensure that these investigatory tools are not abused to retaliate against the ideological opponents of those in office, federal courts must be available to promptly review claims that law enforcement subpoenas violate the First Amendment. The amicus brief was filed in August. It can be read here. This matter is a part of the ACLU’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket. Affiliate: New Jersey Aclu Celebrates Scotus Decision Protecting Organizations From Speech-chilling State Subpoenas. Explore Press Release. Press Release Apr 2026 Free Speech After Earning Ph.D., Rümeysa Öztürk Chooses Her Next Chapter BOSTON – Rümeysa Öztürk has returned to her home in Türkiye following the successful completion of her PhD program in child study and human development, with a focus on young people’s positive behaviors on social media, in February. A little over one year after ICE unlawfully detained Dr. Öztürk in retaliation for co-authoring an op-ed in The Tufts Daily, the parties reached a settlement to resolve outstanding legal issues in federal court and to jointly move to dismiss her immigration proceedings. “After 13 years of dedicated study, I am very proud to have completed my Ph.D. and to return home on my own timeline,” said Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk. “The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for. With them in mind, I am choosing to return home as planned to continue my career as a woman scholar without losing more time to the state-imposed violence and hostility I have experienced in the United States – all for nothing more than co-signing an op-ed advocating for Palestinian rights. “As I start the next chapter of my life, I stand firmly in solidarity with academic communities in the U.S. and elsewhere who live in fear for nothing more than their scholarship, and with other scholars punished for their courageous advocacy for Palestine,” Dr. Öztürk continued. “I invite all universities to do better about listening and valuing all of their students as equal community members, rather than favoring some and silencing others. And I invite everyone to recognize the privilege it is for any country to host international scholars, and the hole that is left in our society when that privilege is lost." An immigration judge terminated the removal proceedings against Dr. Öztürk earlier this year, finding that the government had no basis to deport her. The government appealed that decision soon after to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). This week, under the terms of the settlement agreement, the government and Dr. Öztürk jointly requested termination of proceedings in front of the BIA. "Rümeysa’s professional and academic accomplishments are impressive, impactful and inspiring, and her positive contributions to the field of child development will only continue to grow as she starts this next chapter,” said Jessie Rossman, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “The government’s arrest and detention of Rümeysa was unlawful and harmful, as numerous federal court decisions have confirmed that the government had no basis for its actions aside from her constitutionally protected speech. Yet even as the government continued a relentless campaign against Rümeysa for nothing more than co-authoring an op-ed, she continued to navigate her studies and her advocacy with strength and grace, and she succeeded in her goal of obtaining her Ph.D. to work towards bettering the lives of children.” In January, documents revealed as part of the AAUP v. Rubio trial made clear that the government targeted Dr. Öztürk for detention solely for her constitutionally protected speech. Internal government documents show that the government knew that they found no grounds to detain her, or seek to deport her, other than her co-authoring an op-ed in a student newspaper. “Rümeysa should never have been detained for expressing her opinions in a country that is supposed to protect freedom of speech,” said Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “The government’s retaliatory actions violated the Constitution, and having recourse to federal court was essential to secure her release and enable her to complete her Ph.D. We are grateful that she could make decisions about her future on her own terms.” Under the settlement agreement, Dr. Öztürk was free to return to Türkiye without further interference by the Department of Homeland Security. The government also expressly acknowledged that her SEVIS status has been reinstated and that she was in lawful status at all times that she was in the United States. “We are incredibly fortunate to have scholars like Rümeysa dedicate years of their life studying in this country, making our communities more vibrant and sharing their knowledge on our campuses” said Monica Allard, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Vermont. “Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts to baselessly attack her character and thwart her career, she successfully completed her studies earlier this year and has now returned home to Turkey. Dr. Öztürk will undoubtedly continue making a difference in the lives of children across the globe through her scholarship in child development and her advocacy for human rights.” Dr. Öztürk’s SEVIS case and habeas case will be dismissed as part of the settlement. A federal court in the District of Massachusetts had granted her a preliminary injunction in her SEVIS case, which the federal government had indicated it would appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Her habeas case was last argued in front of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where a decision was pending. “Despite the administration’s best efforts to punish her for co-authoring an op-ed, Rümeysa successfully completed her Ph.D. program,” said Naz Ahmad, Acting Director of CLEAR. “No student or academic should be deprived of the opportunity to study or pursue research simply because the administration disagrees with their political views, as they attempted to do with Rümeysa. As she embarks on the next stage of her career, we’re excited to see what Rümeysa chooses to do.” Dr. Öztürk is represented in her federal court proceedings by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Vermont, CLEAR, and Emery Celli Abady Brinckerhoff Ward & Maazel LLP. For images from her graduation, please email media@aclu.org. For case materials, please see here. Court Case: Öztürk v. Trump Affiliates: Massachusetts, Vermont After Earning Ph.d., Rümeysa Öztürk Chooses Her Next Chapter. Explore Press Release. Press Release Apr 2026 Free Speech Trump Administration's Board of Immigration Appeals Denies Mahmoud Khalil’s Bid to Throw Out Deportation Case NEW YORK — After Mahmoud Khalil appealed an immigration judge’s decision finding him removable, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) today issued a “final” administrative removal order in his case in retaliation for his speech in support of Palestinian rights. The order does not change the status quo and will be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Khalil still cannot lawfully be detained or deported while his separate, ongoing federal habeas corpus case continues in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. “I am not surprised by this decision from the biased and politically motivated Board of Immigration Appeals. I have committed no crime. I have broken no law. The only thing I am guilty of is speaking out ag