A district judge ruled Wednesday that Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and former Columbia pro-Palestinian activist, can no longer be detained by the federal government over claims he is compromising foreign policy.
District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled for Khalil to be released by Friday morning, unless the federal government wins an appeal or provides another justification for detaining Khalil besides Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination he is a threat to the country’s foreign policy.
Federal officials have also claimed they can deport Khalil because he inaccurately completed his green card application, and the judge acknowledged that may mean Khalil can remain in custody.
“To be sure, it might be argued that the Petitioner would be detained anyway. After all, as noted above, the Department of Homeland Security is seeking to remove the Petitioner based not only on the Secretary of State’s determination — but also on a second basis, the Petitioner’s alleged failure to accurately complete his lawful-permanent-resident application,” the judge wrote.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Khalil was the first arrest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign students where Rubio argued numerous pro-Palestinian activists on campus were threats to the country’s foreign policy.
Khalil has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention for four months, missing the birth of his first child.
Other college pro-Palestinian activists have recently been released as their immigration proceedings play out in the court system under similar allegations, but Khalil’s case has been more complicated as the determination over which jurisdiction should preside over the proceedings took months to determine.
The preliminary injunction the judge gave to release Khalil and block his deportation would be a big win for activists, but the matter will not be finalized until Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern time.
