Newark, N.J. — Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student the Trump administration is trying to expel from the U.S. because of his role in campus protests against Israel, appeared on Friday before a judge in New Jersey to debate where his legal fight to be released from federal custody should play out.

A federal judge in New York ruled that the case should be heard in New Jersey, where Khalil was held for several hours after his arrest on March 8 at the Elizabeth Detention Center, and where a lawsuit to block his deportation was filed.