A judge granted Khalil\u2019s release following a ruling saying he could not be deported or detained under the Trump administration\u2019s justification for his arrest.<\/b>
\nKey Facts<\/p>\n

Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled following a hearing Friday that Khalil can be released on bail, according to multiple outlets, determining Khalil is not a flight risk or a danger to the community. <\/p>\n

Farbiarz ordered Khalil to be released from detention on Friday, rejecting the Trump administration\u2019s request to delay his release by a week so that they could appeal the ruling. <\/p>\n

The judge previously found the Trump administration couldn\u2019t detain Khalil based on its primary argument\u2014that his detention was necessary because it posed a risk to foreign policy\u2014but the government was still trying to keep him imprisoned on a smaller secondary accusation on failing to provide some information on his green card application, which Farbiarz noted is not usually grounds for detention. <\/p>\n

Khalil has been in prison since he was first arrested March 8 at his New York City residence, and President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed to Khalil\u2019s pro-Palestinian activism as the reason behind his arrest, with Rubio saying, \u201cWe will be revoking the visas and\/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Columbia University activist\u2019s case has been tied up in court since, and while court previously rebuffed the Trump administration\u2019s effort to have legal proceedings moved from New Jersey to Louisiana\u2014where they\u2019d likely be heard by a more Trump-friendly judge\u2014no judge had yet ordered Khalil\u2019s release. <\/p>\n

Khalil\u2019s wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, praised the court\u2019s decision in a statement Friday, saying, \u201cAfter more than three months we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and [Khalil\u2019s newborn son] Deen, who never should have been separated from his father.\u201d Crucial Quote
\u201cWe 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\u2019s ongoing genocide against Palestinians,\u201d Abdalla said Friday. \u201cBut 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.\u201dWhat To Watch For
Khalil\u2019s legal case is ongoing, though under Friday\u2019s ruling he will no longer be detained while it plays out. The Trump administration suggested in court Friday it will appeal Farbiarz\u2019s order directing Khalil\u2019s release, though it remains to be seen if a higher court could rule in the government\u2019s favor. Khalil\u2019s case was also the first of a number of cases over immigrants on student visas whom the Trump administration has targeted over their pro-Palestinian activism, many of which are still playing out in court.Who Is Mahmoud Khalil?
Khalil is a Columbia University graduate student who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, but now resides in the U.S. as a permanent resident with a green card. He is married to a U.S. citizen, who had the couple\u2019s first child while Khalil was in detention. Khalil gained attention during the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year, where he became one of the public faces of the protest who spoke to the media and mediated with the school. The activist\u2019s wife said he was arrested in March after threats and misinformation had been spread about him in the days leading up to his arrest, with his wife telling the New York Daily News that Khalil had requested legal support from Columbia because he was \u201cfearing that ICE or a dangerous individual may come to my home.\u201d The university did not respond to the request, and Khalil was ultimately arrested as he and his wife arrived to their university-owned residence on March 8. Khalil was initially detained in New Jersey before being transported to the immigration detention facility in Louisiana that he\u2019s been held in since.Why Was Mahmoud Khalil Detained?
Khalil was initially detained by the Trump administration under a rarely used provision of federal law, which allows the Secretary of State to deport anyone who poses \u201cpotentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.\u201d The provision has since been used to target other pro-Palestinian activists, with Politico noting Farbiarz\u2019s decision invalidating Khalil\u2019s detention was part of a string of court decisions that have struck down the Trump administration\u2019s use of the statute.Key Background
Khalil\u2019s arrest and subsequent detention has been a flashpoint within the Trump administration\u2019s broader crackdown on immigration, as the government has broadly moved forward with mass deportations and detentions of both undocumented and documented immigrants. The activist\u2019s March 8 arrest was the first in what became a broad campaign by the Trump administration against international students, as the government initially took aim at specific pro-Palestinian activists like Khalil before taking broader steps like revoking many student visas, barring Harvard University\u2019s international students and temporarily stopping all interviews for new student visa applications. Courts have since blocked many of those restrictions, and the Trump administration said Wednesday it will resume student visa applications, but will vet applicants\u2019 social media profiles. Columbia, which served as the epicenter of the nationwide pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses last year, has also become a prime target for the Trump administration, which has slashed its funding to the school and targeted its accreditation over allegations the university discriminated against Jewish students.<\/p>\n