Federal judge blocks Trump administration from detaining Mahmoud Khalil over pro-Palestinian protests

Time of India

a day ago

A U.S. judge stopped the Trump administration from deporting Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil is a Columbia University student and pro-Palestine activist. The administration claimed Khalil threatened U.S. foreign policy. Judge Farbiarz ruled the action likely unconstitutional. He cited First Amendment rights infringement. Khalil's lawyers argued deportation endangered him. The case tests immigrant speech rights.
FILE -- Mahmoud Khalil speaks during a press conference at Columbia University, near the campus in New York, April 22, 2024. A federal judge on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, barred the Trump administration from continuing to detain Mahmoud Khalil. (Bing Guan/The New York Times)
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A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration cannot continue detaining or deporting Mahmoud Khalil , a Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist, on the grounds that his presence allegedly threatens U.S. foreign policy interests. The decision, issued Wednesday by Judge Michael Farbiarz in New Jersey, represents a significant legal setback for the administration's efforts to use a rarely invoked provision of immigration law to target student demonstrators.Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and green card holder married to an American citizen, was arrested by immigration authorities on March 8 in the lobby of his New York City apartment building and has since been held in a Louisiana detention facility. The government's case relied on a 1952 law that allows the Secretary of State to expel noncitizens whose activities are deemed a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had asserted Khalil's involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University fostered a 'hostile environment for Jewish students' and posed adverse foreign policy consequences.However, Judge Farbiarz found this rationale likely unconstitutional, stating that the administration's actions infringed on Khalil's First Amendment rights and caused 'irreparable harm' to his career, family, and freedom of speech. The judge noted that Khalil's continued detention was not supported by substantial evidence and that similar omissions on green card applications—another basis the administration cited—rarely result in detention.The ruling does not take immediate effect; the administration has until 9:30 a.m. Friday to appeal. If no appeal is filed, Khalil will be eligible for release on a nominal $1 bond. Khalil's legal team welcomed the decision, with attorney Baher Azmy calling it a relief that the court recognized the 'grotesque, vindictive retaliation for his constitutionally protected expression in support of Palestine'.This case follows a pattern, as other student activists swept up in the administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations have also challenged their detentions and, in some cases, secured release. The Department of Justice , State, and Homeland Security have not commented on the ruling. Khalil's attorneys have submitted extensive documentation to counter allegations of antisemitism and warn that deportation would expose him to grave danger in Syria or Algeria, where he has roots but faces persecution.The outcome of this case is seen as a landmark test of immigrants' speech rights in the U.S. and could set precedent for how the government handles similar cases involving political activism and foreign policy.