Pro-Palestinian activist facing deportation released from detention after judge’s order

A pro-Palestinian activist facing deportation was freed Friday from a Louisiana detention center after a federal judge in New Jersey ordered him released on bail. 

The activist, Mahmoud Khalil, has been detained since March 8 on the Trump administration’s claims that his anti-Israel activism amounted to support for terrorist group Hamas. Khalil’s lawyers celebrated his release, saying he can finally be reunited with his wife and newborn son.

“We are so relieved Mahmoud is finally out of his cruel, remote detention, but equally outraged that it took this long and that Mahmoud had to fight this hard to challenge such outrageous and unconstitutional government conduct,” said Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights. “All Americans should be grateful that Mahmoud had the fortitude to defend basic First Amendment principles – and his pursuit of justice for Palestinians – against the administration’s autocratic tactics, which threaten us all.”

Friday’s ruling from Judge Michael Farbiarz comes about a week after he initially ordered Khalil’s release but allowed federal prosecutors to ask the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to weigh in. Instead, federal authorities refused the order, claiming Khalil could still be held under a federal statute allowing immigrants to be detained during removal proceedings. 

Khalil’s lawyers appeared before Farbiarz on Friday to argue that their client should be released on bail, and Farbiarz agreed. A separate judge ordered Khalil to surrender all his passports and travel documents, attend all court hearings, and provide his most recent address to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He also restricted Khalil’s travel to New York and Michigan, to New Jersey and Louisiana for court appearances and attorney visits only, and to Washington, D.C., for lobbying and legislative purposes only.

The bail conditions should not include electronic monitoring because there is “no basis for that” in the record, Farbiarz said.

Abigail Jackson, a spokeswoman for the White House, said the Trump administration expects to be “vindicated” when it appeals Friday’s order and that federal officials “look forward to removing Khalil from the United States.”

“Mahmoud Khalil was given the privilege of coming to America to study on a student visa he obtained by fraud and misrepresentation. While in the United States, Khalil has consistently engaged in conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests. Khalil is thus removable twice over. And in any event, 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,” she said.

Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was born in Syria, was among the first wave of arrests after President Donald Trump targeted students involved in pro-Palestinian efforts across college campuses amid the war in Gaza. Khalil was arrested by federal authorities near his New York City apartment and transferred through the Elizabeth Detention Center — where he was located when his attorneys filed a petition for his release — before eventually ending up in Louisiana. 

His attorneys have argued for the last three months that he was unfairly targeted and held for deportation over his advocacy for his pro-Palestinian advocacy. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Khalil’s presence could have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

Farbiarz had previously ruled that while the government couldn’t deport Khalil on those grounds — the government cited a rarely used statute the judge said is likely unconstitutional as applied to Khalil — they could pursue the case based on allegations of fraud on his green card application. That means Khalil’s proceedings aren’t over, and he still faces deportation.

Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife, said Friday that after three months, her family can “finally breathe a sigh of relief.”

“We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians,” she said in a statement. “But 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.”