Written by Associated Press’s Philip Marceo
NEW YORK (AP) Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist, will be released from immigration detention, according to a federal judge.
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The decision was rendered Friday from the bench of federal court in New Jersey by Judge Michael Farbiarz. In order to be nearer to his wife and newborn son, the Columbia graduate’s attorneys had requested that a federal judge either immediately release him on bail from a Louisiana jail or move him to New Jersey.
President Donald Trump’s crackdown on students who participated in school rallies against Israel’s deadly assault in Gaza resulted in Khalil’s detention as the first. According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Khalil’s continued presence could jeopardize U.S. foreign policy, hence he must be removed from the nation.
Based on claims that the lawful U.S. resident had misled on his green card application, the same court had previously decided that the government may keep him in custody. Khalil refutes the claims that he withheld information from the application. The U.S. secretary of state’s conclusion that Khalil could jeopardize U.S. foreign policy led the judge to rule earlier that he could not be kept in custody.
Khalil, a lawful resident of the United States, was arrested on March 8 in his Manhattan apartment complex for taking part in pro-Palestinian protests. According to his attorneys, the Trump administration is merely attempting to suppress free expression.
During the Columbia demonstrations, Khalil is not charged with violating any laws. For student activists, the graduate student of foreign affairs acted as a spokesperson and negotiator. Although he wasn’t one among the protesters who were taken into custody, he was criticized because of his widespread media attention and his readiness to speak in public.
The Trump administration has maintained that foreigners who take part in these protests need to be barred from the nation because it perceives their opinions as antisemitic.
