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Read our editorial on politically-motivated deportations here.
On Friday (6/20), Mahmoud Khalil was released from detention in Jena, Louisiana after US District Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered that he can be free while his immigration proceedings continue. The ruling explained that Khalil is not a flight risk nor a danger to the public. Khalil is a green card holder who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and sent to the Louisiana detention center in early March for his activism in the Palestine solidarity movement.
Farbiarz is allowing the government to continue its deportation case against Khalil based on new charges that the Trump administration brought up, including his alleged omission of an internship with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in his green card application. On Friday, the judge ordered Khalil to surrender his passport to ICE officials in Jena and banned his ability to travel internationally, in addition to limiting his interstate domestic travel for court and legislative purposes.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson stated on Friday, “We expect to be vindicated an appeal, and look forward to removing Khalil from the United States.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted on social media: “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.”
During Friday’s hearing, Fabiarz announced that, while he provided the Trump administration with ample time to provide evidence, “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.” The administration has also not provided any evidence supporting their “antisemitism” accusation against Khalil.
On Saturday, Khalil arrived at Newark Airport, where he reunited with his wife and 2-month-old son, whose birth he missed after he was denied temporary release. He was escorted out of the arrival gates by Democrat representative and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. While regularly posing for photo-ops at pro-Palestine causes, the opportunist Ocasio-Cortez continues to support sending military funding to Israel, supported a resolution conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and backed former genocidaire-in-chief Biden’s election and re-election campaigns.
Khalil was greeted by a large crowd of supporters who cheered and sang upon his arrival. A line of police shoved the supporters as they reached out to hug him. Khalil called out to the crowd: “The fight is far from over, the genocide is still happening in Gaza, Israel is still waging a full war against Palestinians. The US government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide. This is why I was protesting. This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you, not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they kill me, I will still speak up for Palestine.”
The following afternoon, Khalil was greeted by thousands of supporters who gathered for a “Welcome Home Rally” two blocks from Columbia University, followed by a march led by Khalil to campus gates. In his speech, Khalil affirmed his intent to continue fighting in solidarity with the Palestinian people, the bravery of students currently facing repression, and the failures of the state in its attempt to quell the Palestine solidarity movement. Speaking on how the state’s increased crackdown is only a sign of the movement’s successes, Khalil said: “The movement is winning, the government is frightened of us […] That’s why they’re doing everything in their power to suppress us—because we are literally winning.”
Photo: Khalil’s Welcome Home Rally on June 22.
Correction 07/19/25: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s support for Israel was made more precise.
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