A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and prominent pro-Palestinian activist, from immigration custody, marking a significant win for civil rights advocates who argue the Trump administration is unlawfully targeting student protesters critical of Israel's war on Gaza.
Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident, was arrested by immigration agents on March 8 in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan. His detention followed President Donald Trump’s announcement that foreign students participating in pro-Palestinian protests would face deportation. Khalil became the first person detained under this policy.
After hearing arguments from Khalil's attorneys and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark, New Jersey, ordered DHS to release Khalil from a Louisiana detention center for immigrants.
Farbiarz said the government had failed to dispute evidence that Khalil posed no flight risk or danger to the public. “There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner,” he stated, adding that such punishment for civil immigration issues would be unconstitutional.
Earlier this month, the judge ruled that Khalil’s detention under a rarely used law permitting deportation based on foreign policy concerns violated his First Amendment rights. The law grants the U.S. secretary of state authority to deport individuals whose presence is deemed adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests.
While Farbiarz declined on June 13 to order Khalil’s immediate release—citing a separate charge that he allegedly withheld information on his green card application—he noted Friday that it was “highly unusual” for the government to jail someone over such an accusation.
Khalil’s lawyers deny the claim and say that charges like these rarely result in detention. They had also requested that Khalil be released on bail or moved to an immigration facility in New Jersey to be closer to his wife and newborn son, both U.S. citizens.
The Trump administration maintains that Khalil’s release should be determined by an immigration judge overseeing the deportation proceedings, not by Farbiarz, who is evaluating the legality of Khalil’s arrest and detention.
Khalil, 30, has publicly denounced antisemitism and racism and maintains that his detention is retaliation for his political activism, in violation of the First Amendment.
