The protester had been detained in a Louisiana immigrant detention center for months
New Jersey-based US District Judge Michael Farbiarz has ordered the release of Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestine protester Mahmoud Khalil from a Louisiana immigrant detention center, reported Reuters.
Khalil was let go on Friday evening June 20 after over three months in custody. According to Reuters, the decision represented a win for rights groups that had called out Khalil’s detention as unlawful.
“Today’s ruling underscores a vital First Amendment principle: The government cannot abuse immigration law to punish speech it disfavors,” said Noor Zafar, an American Civil Liberties Union senior staff attorney, in a statement published by Reuters.
Farbiarz, who sits in Newark, heard arguments from Khalil’s lawyers and the Department of Homeland Security before ruling that Khalil did not pose a flight risk; nor was he a danger to the public. He noted that it was unconstitutional to punish an individual for a civil immigration matter.
“There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner,” Farbiarz said in a statement published by Reuters.
The White House challenged the ruling, claiming that Khalil should face deportation for “conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests” and for having a student visa obtained fraudulently.
“There is no basis for a local federal judge in New Jersey —who lacks jurisdiction — to order Khalil’s release from a detention facility in Louisiana. We expect to be vindicated on appeal,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement published by Reuters.
Lawyers for the US administration claimed that Khalil’s release request should have been routed to the judge deciding his immigration case and not to Farbiarz.
Khalil, who had been protesting the war in Gaza, was arrested in Manhattan by immigration agents on March 8. US President Donald Trump had denounced the protests as antisemitic and threatened deportation to foreign student participants, with Khalil becoming the first to be targeted.
“Although justice prevailed, it's long, very long overdue. And this shouldn't have taken three months,” Khalil said after his release in a statement published by Reuters.
Reuters confirmed that Khalil intends to rejoin his wife Dr. Noor Abdalla and their son in New York. He is a legal permanent US resident; nonetheless, he continues to face immigration proceedings.
