Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the encampment protests at Columbia University last spring, was detained on March 8 at his student apartment building.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Mahmoud Khalil's case should be heard in New Jersey despite the Trump administration's efforts to move it to Louisiana. CBS News New York's Ali Bauman reports.

The Department of Justice had moved to have a petition that claims Khalil's detention violates his Constitutional rights dismissed.

Members of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, including Sueda Polat, second from left, and Mahmoud Khalil, center, are surrounded by members of the media outside the Columbia University campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Farbiarz, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, determined that he has jurisdiction over the case because Khalil was being detained in New Jersey when his lawyer filed the challenge.

NEW YORK – A federal judge has ruled that the legal battle over Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation should continue to play out in New Jersey, rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to transfer the Columbia University protester’s case to Louisiana.

A federal judge in New York ordered the case of Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil be transferred from New York to New Jersey where his lawyers will continue their legal efforts for his release.