Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil released from ICE detention in Louisiana

Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil exited an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana on Friday night, after a federal judge ordered his release while his immigration proceedings play out.

Khalil — who spent months in custody as the Trump administration attempted to deport him due to “foreign policy” concerns — addressed reporters after leaving the facility, ahead of his return to New York.

“Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this,” Khalil said.

During a hearing hours earlier before U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz, Khalil’s attorneys asked him to free Khalil from detention or transfer him to New Jersey. The New Jersey judge agreed, determining that Khalil is not a threat to the community, not a flight risk and that his detention has been “highly unusual.” 

Farbiarz denied the government’s request to stay his decision. In his written order, Farbiarz said “the Petitioner shall be released from immigration custody today.” His bail conditions restrict his travel to New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, where he must attend all of his immigration proceedings.

Khalil is a green card holder who was detained by immigration agents in March. His wife Noor Abdalla was 8 months pregnant with their first child when he was first taken into custody, and gave birth to a baby boy in April. Immigration officials denied Khalil’s request for temporary release to attend the birth, and a judge later allowed him to see his son during a brief visit last month.

“Now I can actually hug him and Noor, my wife, without looking at the clock,” Khalil said Friday, when asked about his plans after returning home.

“My husband was taken away from me in the middle of the night. It was one of the most terrifying times of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything scarier than that,” Abdalla said in a March interview with  “CBS Sunday Morning.”

In a statement released by the ACLU, which represents Khalil, Abdalla said “we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father.”

Abigail Jackson, a spokeswoman for the White House, said prior to his release the administration would appeal.

“[T]here is no basis for a local federal judge in New Jersey — who lacks jurisdiction — to order Khalil’s release from a detention facility in Louisiana,” Jackson said. “We expect to be vindicated on appeal, and look forward to removing Khalil from the United States.”

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the order was “yet another example of how out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining national security.”

“The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property,” McLaughlin said. “An immigration judge has already vindicated this position. We expect a higher court to do the same.”

Khalil was initially detained under a determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that his “presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.” Farbiarz ruled last week that Khalil cannot be detained simply based on that determination, but the Department of Homeland Security has kept Khalil detained based on allegations that he omitted details from his green card application. Farbiarz said the new justification wasn’t enough to continue his detention.

“It’s overwhelmingly unlikely that a lawful permanent resident would be held on the remaining charge here,” Farbiarz said, adding that “there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner” for his anti-Israel speech. As a graduate student at Columbia, Khalil was among the leaders of students who protested Israel’s war in Gaza in 2024. Khalil has since graduated.

“What all of that evidence adds up to is a lack of violence, a lack of property destruction, a lack of anything that would be characterized as inciting violence,” Farbiarz added, saying that he has given government attorneys ample opportunity to address the lack of evidence and that they have provided none. 

During the hearing, Khalil’s attorneys said that a Louisiana immigration judge denied a bond hearing for Khalil and has denied asylum, in addition to finding him removable on Rubio’s declaration, conflicting with Farbiarz’s order last week. 

“There has been a thick record developed here,” Farbiarz said, adding that he will not order electronic monitoring of Khalil.

Jesse Zanger

contributed to this report.