​​​​​​​NEW YORK

A US federal judge on Wednesday transferred the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and recent Columbia University graduate, to the state of New Jersey while maintaining a previous order preventing his deportation.

District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that the case belongs in New Jersey, not Louisiana or New York since he was transferred after his detention and was held in the southern state when his lawyer filed for his release March 9.

“At the heart of this case is the important question of whether and under what circumstances the Government may rescind a person’s lawful permanent resident status and remove him from the United States,” Furman wrote in the ruling.

"In many ways, this is indeed an exceptional case, and there is a need for careful judicial review," he wrote.

Khalil was arrested March 8 by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents after they accosted him and his wife Noor Abdalla, who is eight months pregnant, as they returned from dinner. He was taken into custody without a warrant, and the agents withheld details about his arrest, according to footage of the arrest that was made public by his family on Friday.

The Trump administration has accused Khalil, who played a prominent role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school last year, of engaging in “activities aligned with Hamas,” although no evidence has been provided.

He is currently being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana and is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge March 27.

Khalil said his arrest was a result of his activism for a free Palestine, calling himself a "political prisoner."

"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, which resumed in full force Monday night," he wrote in a letter made public Tuesday.