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

Lawyers for a Columbia University graduate student who has become the face of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on campus protests against Israel are expected to appear before a judge in Newark, New Jersey.

The government wants the detainee’s case heard in Louisiana, where an appellate judge may be friendlier. At a hearing in Newark, one of his lawyers called the situation “Kafkaesque.”

Speaking outside the U.S. Federal Court in Newark, New Jersey, Baher Azmy said he was hopeful the judge would move quickly on a decision on whether the case should be heard in the state rather than in Louisiana,

Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil will remain behind bars in Louisiana at least until a U.S. judge decides whether the Palestinian activist should challenge his imprisonment in a federal court there or in New Jersey.