NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers representing Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University facing deportation, have requested that Judge Emil Bove withdraw from an appellate panel reviewing his case. This request stems from Bove's previous position as a top official in the Justice Department, where he was involved in investigations related to student protesters.
The legal team representing Khalil recently filed a motion asking for a full review of a January ruling by a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, aiming to exclude Bove from the proceedings. The earlier ruling had brought the Trump administration closer to detaining and eventually deporting Khalil, who is an outspoken pro-Palestinian activist.
Khalil's lawyers highlighted Bove's role as the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, where he directed immigration enforcement investigations against student protesters, including those at Columbia University. They argue that his involvement in Khalil’s case represents a conflict of interest that justifies his recusal.
Since September, Bove has served as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Prior to this, he worked as one of Donald Trump’s defense attorneys in various criminal cases, including the controversial hush-money case that culminated in Trump's conviction on multiple felony counts.
The decision regarding Bove's recusal ultimately rests with him. The Justice Department, which is representing the government in the appeal concerning Khalil, expressed that they “see no basis for recusal but defer to Judge Bove” in their court filings.
Judge Bove has declined to comment through the 3rd Circuit. During the process of his judicial confirmation, he acknowledged that his previous Justice Department role could potentially lead to conflicts of interest. He stated he would recuse himself from cases where he had personally been involved.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident, is known to be the first individual publicly identified during a crackdown on noncitizens who criticized Israel and its military actions in Gaza. He is currently living in the United States with his wife, an American citizen, and their young son, while contesting a January ruling that determined a New Jersey federal judge lacked jurisdiction in his case.
This ruling mandated that challenges regarding detention and deportation be processed through the separate immigration court system. Notably, the three-judge panel's decision was 2-1 and did not address the fundamental question of whether the Trump administration's attempt to deport Khalil over his campus activism and criticisms of Israel is unconstitutional. Khalil was previously detained for three months in a Louisiana immigration facility, missing the birth of his son during this time.
The Trump administration has accused Khalil of leading activities linked to Hamas, although they have not substantiated these claims with evidence and have not suggested he engaged in any criminal behavior. Furthermore, they asserted that he failed to disclose necessary information on his green card application.
Born in Syria to a Palestinian family and holding Algerian citizenship, Khalil has denounced the allegations made against him as “baseless and ridiculous.” He describes his arrest and subsequent detention as direct repercussions of exercising his right to free speech while advocating for a free Palestine and an end to the violence in Gaza.
The government has justified Khalil’s arrest using a rarely invoked statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are considered detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests. In February 2025, shortly before Khalil’s arrest, Bove co-authored a memorandum focused on forming a task force aimed at investigating and prosecuting acts of terrorism and civil rights violations by supporters of Hamas in the United States, particularly on college campuses.
