A federal judge denied the Trump administration’s bid to dismiss activist Mahmoud Khalil’s challenge to his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and has decided to shift the jurisdiction of the case to the state of New Jersey.

Khalil, a Palestinian who completed his studies at Columbia University in December, will remain in the US for the time being.

In his order on Wednesday morning, district judge Jesse Furman explained that, given the fact that Khalil was in detention in New Jersey at the time his lawyers submitted their petition, it meant that the New York court he presides over “lacks jurisdiction over most, if not all, of Khalil’s claims”.