‘Shouldn’t have taken 3 months’: Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil released from custody after US court order

Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests, was released from a federal detention centre on Friday (Jun 20) after a court order. The former Columbia University student, a legal permanent resident in the United States, was arrested by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allegedly leading pro-Palestine protests at the Ivy League campus in New York City in 2024. Khalil claimed that the government was targeting him for his political beliefs. He was the leader of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest and was arrested from his apartment on March 8.

“This shouldn’t have taken three months,” said Khalil, who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, told US media outside an immigration detention centre in Jena, Louisiana, hours after a federal judge ordered his release. “(President Donald) Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this.” He added, “There’s no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide.”

The Department of Homeland Security criticised the court’s ruling by District Judge Michael Farbiarz, calling it an example of how “out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining our national security.” Earlier, the Trump administration tried to deport the pro-Palestine activist after his arrest, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the attempt.

While Khalil has been released, he still faces some restrictions on where he can travel within the country. Under the terms of his release, he is also not allowed to leave the United States unless in a case of “self-deportation”.

Khalil’ wife, Noor Abdalla, who is a Michigan-born dentist that her family could now “finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Maumoud is on his way home.”

“We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians,” Abdalla said.