The Trump administration was dealt a defeat in court Friday after a federal judge ordered the release of anti-Israel Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Khalil’s presence in the U.S. had been determined to have an “adverse foreign policy consequence” by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, based on his links to violent protests at Columbia University against Israel and Jewish students attending the school.
He had led activities ‘aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,’ and his deportation was ‘in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.’
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Farbiarz for New Jersey had previously disagreed with that assessment, and in Friday’s decision, he said Khalil needed to be released from detention at a Louisiana jail.
Khalil’s attorneys and defenders have accused the Trump administration of improperly cracking down on free speech in their actions against the pro-Palestinian protester.
A memo from Rubio said that Khalil should be deported because of his “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities,” which had fostered a “hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
The Trump administration has also argued that Khalil lied in his application for a green card, but he has denied those allegations.
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Attorneys for Khalil argued that he faced torture and even death if he were deported from the U.S.
After Khalil’s detention in March, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that he had led activities “aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” and his deportation was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.”
Farbiarz was nominated to the court by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
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