CBS News Live
Mahmoud Khalil has arrived successful New Jersey aft a national justice ordered his release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention successful Louisiana.
The Columbia University postgraduate and activistic arrived connected a formation to Newark Liberty International Airport connected Saturday aft spending months successful ICE custody arsenic the Trump medication fights to deport him.
He is speaking with reporters astatine the airport. Watch his remarks successful the subordinate above.
Khalil released aft being detained by ICE for months
The Trump medication has been seeking Khalil's deportation for his relation successful Columbia field protests against Israel. He has not been charged with immoderate crimes, but the medication says helium should permission the state owed to activities it deems are aligned with Hamas.
"Trump and his administration, they chose the incorrect idiosyncratic for this," Khalil said, addressing reporters aft leaving the installation connected Friday to instrumentality to New York.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Michael Fabiarz ruled Khalil is neither a menace to his assemblage nor a formation risk. He called Khalil's detention "highly unusual" and the national government's actions "an effort to usage the migration complaint to punish the petitioner" for his anti-Israel speech.
Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian national and U.S. imperishable resident, center, speaks aft his merchandise from an ICE processing halfway successful Jena, La., Friday, June 20, 2025.
Matthew Hinton / AP
The authorities had said successful tribunal papers that Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Khalil's "presence oregon activities [in the United States] would compromise a compelling U.S. overseas argumentation interest."
Despite rejecting Rubio's determination to proceed to clasp Khalil connected overseas argumentation grounds, the justice near unfastened a way for the authorities to proceed its effort to deport him for reasons specified arsenic problems with his greenish paper application.
Ultimately, the justice determined Khalil does not request to beryllium detained portion the deportation proceedings play out. He said helium would not bid physics monitoring either.
Khalil's apprehension acceptable disconnected bid of protests
Khalil was arrested by national migration agents in the lobby of his Columbia-owned Manhattan flat connected March 8, mounting off a bid of protests and nationwide discussions implicit escaped speech.
Hours aft his arrest, helium was transferred to a detention halfway successful Jena, Louisiana, acold from his ineligible squad and large wife. The authorities refused to merchandise him to attend the commencement of his son.
Khalil's apprehension was the archetypal of respective akin incidents crossed the country.
Another Columbia activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, who has a greenish card, was arrested connected April 14. Mahdawi was detained for allegedly posing a hazard of "adverse overseas argumentation consequences." He was released astir 2 weeks later by a national justice who ruled that helium was apt being punished for protected speech. He graduated from Columbia after his release.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University postgraduate student, was released successful May at the bid of a national justice aft she was detained for much than a month. Her attorneys said she was taken into custody implicit to an op-ed she wrote for a field newspaper.
Mark Prussin contributed to this report.
Jesse Zanger is the managing exertion of CBSNewYork.com. Jesse has antecedently worked for the Fox News Channel and Spectrum News NY1. He covers determination quality astir the Tri-State Area, with a peculiar absorption connected breaking quality and utmost weather.
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