A federal judge is ordering the release of Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.
U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz indicated during a hearing Friday that he will issue an order requiring that Khalil be released today.
He denied a motion by the government to stay the ruling for seven days.
During the hearing, Farbiarz said the government made no attempt to prove that Khalil’s release would irreparably harm them in some way, and that Khalil represented a flight risk.
“What all that evidence adds up to is a lack of violence, a lack of property destruction, a lack of anything that might be characterized as incitement to violence,” the judge said of Khalil, who helped lead Columbia’s encampment protests against the war in Gaza over the spring.
An attorney for Khalil, Alina Das, reasserted Khalil’s belief that he is being punished for speech that should be protected by the First Amendment.
“The government’s latest actions confirm what we’ve alleged in this petition all along, that retaliatory detention is the government’s goal, that the purpose of every step that the government has taken in this case has been to ensure that Mr. Khalil remains locked away until he is deported as retaliation and punishment for his speech and viewpoint,” she said.
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 29, 2024.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
The judge asked the parties to consult with a magistrate judge about any conditions that will be attached to Khalil’s release on bail.
The ruling came at the same time an immigration judge in Jena, Louisiana, was denying Khalil’s request for asylum and ordering him to remain detained — but Judge Farbiarz’ order supersedes that.
Last week, Judge Farbiarz issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from continuing to detain Khalil based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s determination that his continued presence in the country would pose a risk to foreign policy — but the judge subsequently sided with the government in ruling that Khalil could continue to be detained on the grounds that he misrepresented information on his green card application, which Khalil denies.
Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, has been held in a detention facility since he was arrested by ICE agents in New York City in March.
