Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist detained by ICE, are fighting to keep his case in N.J.

A federal district court declined to say whether the US government’s case against Mahmoud Khalil, the prominent pro-Palestinian activist detained by immigration officers, should be heard in New Jersey.

A federal court in Newark will determine whether the United States can deport Mahmoud Khalil in what could be a landmark case on civil rights.