A federal judge in New Jersey on Friday ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist, from detention, a legal blow to the Trump administration as it moves to deport some foreign nationals involved in anti-Israel protests.
Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder originally from Syria, was arrested in March at his student residence in Manhattan and held at an ICE facility in Louisiana. His arrest came amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on student demonstrators he has described as antisemitic and aligned with hostile foreign groups.
U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz, an appointee of former President Joe Biden in New Jersey, ruled Friday that Khalil must be released, finding that he poses no danger to the public, is not a flight risk, and that his continued detention is “highly unusual.” The judge appeared to endorse the defense’s argument that Khalil was being punished for his political views.
“It’s overwhelmingly unlikely that a lawful permanent resident would be held on the remaining charge here,” Farbiarz said, referring to a Trump administration allegation that Khalil had omitted information from his residency application. “There is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner.”
Immigration judge in Louisiana reaches opposite conclusion
While Farbiarz blocked the administration from using a foreign policy claim to justify Khalil’s detention, an immigration judge in Louisiana has ruled differently. According to Khalil’s attorneys, the judge denied him bond, rejected his asylum claim, and found him removable based solely on the declaration from Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the same rationale Farbiarz deemed likely unconstitutional.
The administration had originally justified Khalil’s arrest under a Cold War-era law triggered by Rubio’s declaration that Khalil’s activism threatened U.S. diplomatic interests. But Farbiarz ruled last week that the provision could not lawfully be used as the sole basis for detention, calling it a likely violation of Khalil’s First Amendment rights.
With that avenue blocked, the Department of Homeland Security shifted its argument to a paperwork discrepancy — a claim Farbiarz rejected for lack of seriousness or supporting evidence.
“What all of that evidence adds up to is a lack of violence, a lack of property destruction, a lack of anything that would be characterized as inciting violence,” Farbiarz said. He noted that government attorneys had been given ample opportunity to present additional justification and “provided none.”
Khalil’s wife and newborn son are both U.S. citizens. Farbiarz declined to impose electronic monitoring and ordered Khalil to be released outright.
JUDGE RULES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CAN CONTINUE TO DETAIN MAHMOUD KHALIL
The Friday ruling comes weeks after a federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of another foreign national, Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian-born Columbia student who was arrested by immigration authorities during a citizenship interview in April.
That case, like Khalil’s, raised alarms among civil liberties groups who say the Trump administration is using immigration enforcement to target pro-Palestinian voices on campus — a strategy that is now drawing increasing scrutiny in federal courts.