Federal judge orders Mahmoud Khalil to be released by Friday on $1 bond

Others have already been released on court orders after multiple federal judges ruled that the administration had violated the students’ rights by detaining them despite not accusing them of crimes.

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

A federal judge has decreed that Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian Columbia University protest leader, cannot be detained or deported and set the stage for him to go free as early as Friday.

Khalil was the first leader of last year’s anti-Israel student protests to be arrested under the Trump administration’s push to deport non-citizens who they said fueled antisemitism on campuses.

Others have already been released on court orders after multiple federal judges ruled that the administration had violated the students’ rights by detaining them despite not accusing them of crimes.

Last month, Judge Michael Farbiarz of the Federal District Court in New Jersey ruled that the law that the State Department cited in justifying Khalil’s deportation — a little-used provision that says the United States can seek to eject non-citizens whose actions undermine U.S. policy — was likely unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, he additionally ruled that Khalil had shown that he was being irreparably harmed by being detained while the government seeks to deport him. Khalil’s son was born in New York since his arrest.

Farbiarz left a small window of opportunity for the Trump administration to press for Khalil’s continued detention, saying that they could argue by 9:30 a.m. Friday that Khalil had lied about his affiliations when seeking a student visa.

But he indicated that he was unlikely to be swayed by such an argument and said Khalil could otherwise go free after posting a $1 bond.