Mahmoud Khalil 'not a danger to the community,' says U.S. judge in ordering release of student protester

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 3:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

A national justice connected Friday ordered the U.S. authorities to escaped erstwhile Columbia University postgraduate student Mahmoud Khalil from the migration detention centre wherever helium has been held since aboriginal March portion the Trump medication sought to deport him implicit his relation successful pro-Palestinian protests.

Ruling from the seat successful New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would beryllium "highly, highly unusual" for the authorities to proceed to detain a ineligible U.S. nonmigratory who was improbable to fly and hadn't been accused of immoderate violence.

In reaching his decision, Farbiarz said Khalil is apt not a formation hazard and "is not a information to the community. Period, afloat stop."

He ordered Khalil released from a detention centre successful agrarian Louisiana aboriginal Friday. The authorities had "clearly not met" the standards for detention, helium said aboriginal successful the hourlong hearing, which took spot by phone.

Khalil was the archetypal apprehension nether U.S. President Donald Trump's crackdown connected students who joined field protests against Israel's warfare successful Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil indispensable beryllium expelled from the state due to the fact that his continued beingness could harm American overseas policy.

Farbiarz had ruled earlier that the authorities couldn't deport Khalil connected those grounds, but gave it leeway to proceed pursuing a imaginable deportation based connected allegations that helium lied connected his greenish paper application. Khalil disputes the accusations that helium wasn't forthcoming connected the application.

Khalil's lawyers had asked that helium either beryllium freed connected bail or, astatine the precise least, moved from a Louisiana jailhouse to New Jersey truthful helium tin beryllium person to his woman and newborn son, who are some U.S. citizens.

WATCH | Columbia pupil activistic detained: 

Detained implicit information successful pro-Palestinian demonstrations

The justice noted Khalil is present intelligibly a nationalist fig fixed his prominence during the field protests and since his detainment.

He was detained connected March 8 at his flat gathering successful Manhattan implicit his information successful pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His lawyers accidental the Trump medication is simply trying to ace down connected escaped speech.

Khalil isn't accused of breaking immoderate laws during the protests astatine Columbia. The planetary affairs postgraduate pupil served arsenic a negotiator and spokesperson for pupil activists.

He wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence successful quality sum and willingness to talk publically made him a people of critics.

The Trump medication has argued that noncitizens who enactment successful specified demonstrations should beryllium expelled from the state arsenic it considers their views antisemitic.

The justice noted Khalil has nary transgression grounds and the authorities has enactment guardant nary grounds to suggest he's been progressive successful unit oregon spot destruction.