WASHINGTON: Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil walked out of a Louisiana immigrant detention center on Friday, hours after a judge ordered his release, a major victory for rights groups that challenged what they called the Trump administration’s unlawful targeting of a pro-Palestinian activist.
“Although justice prevailed,” he said upon his release in the rural town of Jena, “it’s long, very long overdue. And this shouldn’t have taken three months.”
On March 8 Khalil, a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, has called the protests antisemitic and vowed to deport foreign students who took part. Khalil became the first target of this policy.
After more than three months unjustly detained by the Trump administration, Mahmoud Khalil is finally free. He can go home, hug his wife, and hold his baby. He never should’ve been detained. As we celebrate his release, we will never stop working to defend human rights –… pic.twitter.com/jrc032iC5J
— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) June 21, 2025
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly conflates their criticism of Israeli actions in Gaza with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
After hearing oral arguments from lawyers for Khalil and the Department of Homeland Security, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz of Newark, New Jersey, ordered DHS to release him from custody at a jail for immigrants in rural Louisiana by 6:30 p.m. (2330 GMT) on Friday.
Farbiarz said the government had made no attempt to rebut evidence provided by Khalil’s lawyers that he was not a flight risk or a 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,” Farbiarz said, referring to Khalil as he ruled from the bench, adding that punishing someone over a civil immigration matter was unconstitutional.
Khalil is the latest in a string of foreign pro-Palestinian students arrested in the US since in March who have subsequently been released by judges.
They include Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysya Ozturk.
A legal permanent resident of the US, Khalil says he is being punished for his political speech, in violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment.
Khalil condemned antisemitism and racism in interviews with CNN and other news outlets last year.
‘No one is illegal’
Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which supported the activist, said:
“Today’s ruling underscores a vital First Amendment principle: The government cannot abuse immigration law to punish speech it disfavors.”
The Syrian-born activist plans to return to New York to be with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and their infant son, who was born during Khalil’s 104 days in detention.
“This ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others,” Abdalla said in a statement.
Mahmoud Khalil is free. May his release lead to the release of all who are detained and incarcerated from the US to Palestine, in ICE facilities and in prisons. And may his courage inspire us to remain steadfast in fighting for Palestinian liberation. pic.twitter.com/Dax87bMzbj
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) June 21, 2025
“Today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom.”
The White House condemned the decision to release Khalil, saying he should be deported for “conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests” and fraudulently obtaining a student visa.
“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,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “We expect to be vindicated on appeal.”
The immigration proceedings against Khalil continue.
Khalil, wearing a keffiyeh and raising his right fist as he approached journalists outside the detention center, condemned what he called the Trump administration’s racist immigration policies.
He said he was leaving behind hundreds of men housed at the detention center who should not be there.
“The Trump administration are doing their best to dehumanize everyone here,” he said outside the gates of the facility. “No one is illegal, no human is illegal.”
Khalil said that his time in detention had changed him.
“Once you enter there, you see a different reality,” he said. “A different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice.”
