On the night of March 8, pro-Palestinian activist and former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal immigration agents and taken to 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

His attorney jumped into action, and by 4:40 a.m. had filed court papers seeking his release. But by that point, Khalil had been transferred to the Elizabeth Detention Center near Newark Airport.

As a result, the Manhattan federal judge who’s been hearing Khalil’s case lacks jurisdiction, according to a 33-page order he issued Wednesday — transferring the case to New Jersey. 

It also means Khalil avoids the case being heard in Louisiana, where he remains in detention.

“We view this as a win,” Samah Sisay, an attorney for Khalil, said. “I mean, it would have been great if the case had stayed in the Southern District of New York and we would’ve stayed on a fast path toward getting him released. But everything that we have already submitted to the court is just going before a different judge in New Jersey. We expect the case to continue to be expedited.”

Khalil was arrested around 8:30 p.m. on March 8 in Manhattan. Several hours later, at 1:40 a.m., he was transferred to Elizabeth, New Jersey. At 11:30 a.m., he was driven to John F. Kennedy Airport, and at 2:45 p.m. boarded a flight to Dallas, Texas. At 9:30 p.m. that same evening, he was flown to Alexandria, La., and at 1:33 a.m. booked at a detention facility in Jena, La.

His legal team believes the transfer to Louisiana was an attempt to get the case before more conservative judges.

“We think the government was obviously trying to get in front of a court that would grant them what they wanted,” Sisay said, “Which is that he would continue to be detained.”

Still, Judge Jesse Furman found nothing nefarious, writing in Wednesday's order, “However unusual or disturbing the circumstances leading to Khalil’s arrest and detention may have been, his transfers from facility to facility … do not appear to be that unusual.”

The Trump administration has labeled Khalil a supporter of Hamas for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests, citing an adverse impact on foreign policy as grounds for his deportation based on an obscure immigration statute.

Attorneys for Khalil, who’s a permanent resident, say he’s been targeted for constitutionally protected speech. They’re seeking his release, and want to block the Trump administration from enforcing the same policy against others.

On Tuesday, Khalil dictated a letter by phone in which he called himself a political prisoner, saying, “My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

“He’s in good spirits,” Sisay said. “He obviously wants to come home to his wife and to be there for her, and that’s all he worries about. And I think he also recognizes that his case has a lot of impact on the student movement in support of Palestine and so that’s also on his mind.”

Separate from his federal court case, Khalil is due to appear before an immigration judge in Louisiana on Friday.