Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student and prominent leader of pro-Palestinian campus protests, was released from a federal immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, following a judge’s ruling. Khalil, a legal U.S. resident married to a U.S. citizen, had been held in custody since March, facing potential deportation.
Outside the detention center, Khalil, draped in a Palestinian keffiyeh, expressed frustration over the lengthy detention. “This shouldn’t have taken three months,” he said, criticizing former President Donald Trump’s administration. “There’s no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide.”
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The Department of Homeland Security condemned District Judge Michael Farbiarz’s decision, calling it an example of judicial overreach undermining national security. As part of the release conditions, Khalil cannot leave the United States unless choosing “self-deportation” and faces travel restrictions within the country.
Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, a Michigan-born dentist, welcomed the decision, noting that their family could “finally breathe a sigh of relief.” She also emphasized that the ruling does not undo the broader injustices faced by families targeted for speaking against Israeli actions in Gaza.
The case has drawn widespread attention from civil rights groups, who argue that Khalil’s detention reflected broader efforts to suppress dissent amid rising global condemnation of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
