Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil has been released after 104 days in federal immigration detention, following a court ruling that sharply criticised the US government's legal basis for his continued confinement.
Khalil, who had become a prominent face of pro-Palestine student protests across US campuses, walked out of a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday and is expected to return to New York to reunite with his wife and infant son, who was born while he was in detention.
"Justice prevailed, but it’s very long overdue," Khalil said outside the facility.
"This shouldn’t have taken three months."
The US District Court in New Jersey ordered Khalil's release after Judge Michael Farbiarz said the government had failed to meet the legal standards for continued detention.
The judge also stated that it would be "highly, highly unusual" to continue detaining a legal US resident who faced no violent charges and had demonstrated a willingness to comply with court proceedings.
Legal tug-of-war
His release came just hours after an immigration judge denied him bond and ordered his removal from the US — a ruling the Trump administration insists overrides the district court's decision.
In a sharply worded statement, the administration accused the judge of overstepping.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has led the push to deport Khalil, invoking a Cold War-era statute allowing the removal of foreigners deemed harmful to US foreign policy.
He argues that non-citizens do not enjoy the same constitutional protections and has labelled Khalil’s activism a national security threat.
The Trump administration has claimed that participation in anti-Israel protests is tantamount to antisemitism and grounds for deportation.
Civil rights groups reject this framing, arguing it conflates criticism of Israeli policy with hate speech in an attempt to stifle dissent.
Khalil said his time in the Jena, Louisiana detention centre exposed him to "a different reality about this country that supposedly champions human rights and liberty and justice."
"Whether you are a US citizen, an immigrant or just a person on this land doesn’t mean that you are less of a human," he said.
"Justice will prevail, no matter what this administration may try to portray."
His wife, Dr Noor Abdalla, said the ruling allowed her to "breathe a sigh of relief," though it did not erase the trauma of the last three months.
"We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others," she added.
First of many
Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump's crackdown on student protests against Israel's genocide in Gaza.
He was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan.
While he was not among those arrested on campus, his role as a negotiator and spokesperson for student protesters made him a prominent target.
A few days after Khalil's arrest, Trump's claim came due after another pro-Palestine scholar, Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, was arrested.
His attorney said he was arrested because of the Palestinian identity of his wife. He was released in May.
After the arrest of Suri, authorities went after another pro-Palestine student, Momodou Taal, asking him to turn himself in.
On March 25, Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student, said she sued the Trump administration to stop her deportation from the US over her participation in a pro-Palestine protest last Spring.
Also on March 25, Rumeysa Ozturk, who is a Tufts University PhD student, was kidnapped in broad daylight by US authorities over criticising Israel's carnage in Gaza.
On April 14, authorities arrested Mohsen Mahdawi during his citizenship interview before he was released on April 30.
