Source: SFGate
“Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student fighting deportation, have asked Judge Emil Bove to step aside from an appellate panel that could weigh in on his case because of Bove’s previous role as a top Justice Department official involved in investigating student protesters. Khalil’s lawyers this week asked that the full complement of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals — minus Bove — review and reverse a January ruling by a panel of three 3rd Circuit judges that put the Trump administration one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the pro-Palestinian activist. As the Justice Department’s Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, Bove ‘directed immigration enforcement investigations and decisions against student protesters on college campuses,’ including at Columbia, Khalil’s lawyers wrote. Bove’s immigration enforcement work ‘demonstrates the existence, or at least the appearance of, a conflict of interest’ that should disqualify him from having a say in Khalil’s appeal, they said.” (04/02/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/activist-mahmoud-khalil-wants-ex-justice-22185776.php