Mahmoud Khalil

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to free former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention.

Attorneys for the Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil requested that a federal judge immediately release him on bail, or else transfer him to New Jersey to be closer to his family, as the Trump administration seeks to keep him in custody in Louisiana.

A Columbia graduate facing deportation over his pro-Palestinian activism on campus has outlined the “irreparable harm” caused by his continued detention as a federal judge weighs his release.

Emails shared with The Associated Press say federal immigration authorities denied Mahmoud Khalil’s request for a temporary release from detention to attend the birth of his first child.

Mahmoud Khalil’s detention in Louisiana, along with that of several other campus activists who have been shipped to detention centers in the state from far away, has put a spotlight on Louisiana’s role as a major hub for immigration detention.

The federal government has sufficient grounds to deport Mahmoud Khalil – the former Columbia University student-activist and green-card holder currently detained in Louisiana — an immigration judge found after a tense hearing at the LaSalle immigration court in Jena on Friday.

Mahmud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and a permanent legal resident of the United States is currently being held in a Louisiana ICE detention center.

A federal judge has rejected a Trump administration bid to move Mahmoud Khalil’s legal case to Louisiana.

One of the students facing discipline was also briefly detained in a separate incident after leaving their backpack unattended on campus with a sign attached to it criticizing the university’s moves away from DEI policies.

Since last week, Khalil — a Syrian-born Palestinian and permanent U.S. resident— has been locked up in the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, a privately-run immigration lockup with an average daily detainee population of nearly 1,200.