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On Friday, a federal judge ordered the US government to release the former graduate student from Columbia University, Mahmoud Khalil, from the immigration detention center where he has been detained since early March while the Trump administration was looking to deport him to his role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
The decision of the New Jersey bench, the American district judge Michael Farbiarz, said that he would be “very unusual” for the government to continue to have a legal resident who was unlikely to flee and had not been accused of any violence.
By making his decision, Farbiarz said Khalil was probably not a risk of theft and “is not a danger to the community. Period, full stop”.
He ordered Khalil to be released in a detention center in Rural Louisiana later on Friday. The government had “clearly not clearly respected” the standards of detention, he said at one-hour hearing later, which took place by phone.
Khalil was the first arrest under the repression of US President Donald Trump against students who joined campus demonstrations against the War of Israel in Gaza. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Khalil should be expelled from the country because his continuous presence could affect American foreign policy.
Farbiarz had tried earlier that the government could not expel Khalil for these reasons, but gave it a room for maneuver to continue to continue a potential expulsion on the basis of allegations according to which he lied at his request for a green card. Khalil disputes the accusations that he was not to come on request.
Khalil’s lawyers had asked for him to be released on bond or, at the very least, went from a Louisiana prison to New Jersey so that he could be closer to his wife and newborn son, who are both American citizens.
Look | Columbia student activist has detained:
Mahmoud Khalil, a student from the University of Columbia in the country legally, was arrested by American immigration agents and faces a possible deportation for his involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. This is one of the first known arrests linked to the threats of the Trump administration against militant students.
Detained on participation in pro-Palestinian events
The judge noted that Khalil is now clearly a public figure given his importance during campus demonstrations and since his detention.
He was arrested on March 8 in his building in Manhattan for his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. His lawyers say the Trump administration is just trying to repress freedom of expression.
Khalil is not accused of having violated the laws during the demonstrations of Columbia. The graduate student of international affairs has been a negotiator and spokesperson for militant students.
It was not among the demonstrators arrested, but its importance in the coverage of news and the will to speak publicly made a target of criticism.
The Trump administration argued that the non-citizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country because it considers their anti-Semitic opinions.
The judge noted that Khalil had no criminal record and that the government did not present any evidence to suggest that it was involved in the violence or the destruction of goods.
