Category
First Amendment Detentions
The 2025 wave of habeas petitions filed by green-card holders, student-visa holders, and academics arrested by ICE for speech and political association — from Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia to Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts.
Khalil v. Joyce: A Habeas Win, A Third Circuit Reversal, and the “Zipper Clause” Question
A Columbia graduate and lawful permanent resident was arrested by ICE on the basis of pro-Palestinian organizing and held in Louisiana. The District of New Jersey ordered him released on bail. The Third Circuit reversed on jurisdictional grounds, holding 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(9) channeled the constitutional challenges into the petition-for-review process.
Khan Suri v. Trump: A $0 Bond, a Fourth Circuit Affirmance, and a SEVIS-Restoration Settlement
An Indian national doing postdoctoral work at Georgetown was arrested outside his home in Virginia and rendition-transferred to Texas. The Eastern District of Virginia rejected the transfer and released him on $0 bond. A divided Fourth Circuit panel denied the government’s appeal, with Judge Wilkinson dissenting. A settlement followed reinstating his SEVIS status nunc pro tunc.
Chung v. Trump: A Korean-American LPR, a Preliminary Injunction, and a National Order Against Detention
A Korean-American lawful permanent resident who had participated in Columbia pro-Palestinian protests obtained a TRO and then a preliminary injunction enjoining her arrest, detention, or interstate transfer anywhere in the country. The court required 72 hours’ notice before any non-removal-based detention.
Ozturk v. Trump: A Vermont Habeas Defeats an Interstate Transfer
A Tufts Ph.D. student and Fulbright scholar was arrested in Massachusetts after co-authoring a Tufts Daily op-ed critical of Tufts’s response to a student-government resolution. ICE moved her across multiple states to Louisiana. The District of Vermont — where she had been when habeas was filed — ordered her transferred back and released.
Mahdawi v. Trump: A Naturalization Interview Becomes a Habeas Case
A Columbia student and lawful permanent resident raised in a West Bank refugee camp was detained by ICE at his naturalization interview. The District of Vermont released him on bail two weeks later. Removal proceedings were eventually terminated by the immigration judge.