A federal judge in New York ruled that the case should be heard in New Jersey, where Khalil was held for several hours after his arrest on March 8 at the Elizabeth Detention Center, and where a lawsuit to block his deportation was filed.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests, urged a federal judge on Friday to move their client’s case out of Louisiana, describing his imprisonment there as a “Kafkaesque” ploy to chill free speech.

The decision offers a venue compromise in the bellwether case, while Khalil's legal team seeks to release him from detention and block his deportation.