Mahmud Khalil Exile Case: Federal Judge Order Palestinian worker release; Government was given till Friday to appeal

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Mahmood Khalil, a legal American resident and former graduate student at Columbia University, should be released from immigration. Khalil was detained after participation in Palestinian demonstrations against Israeli’s military action in Gaza in March.Judge Michael Farbiarz said that Khalil’s continuous custody is causing “irreparable loss” citing loss of his career, personal life and free speech rights. The judge wrote in his judgment, “The court finds out as the fact that the petitioner’s career and reputation is being damaged and his speech is cooling – and it causes irreparable harm.”Despite the decision, Khalil will remain in custody till at least 9:30 pm on Friday, allowing the US government to file an appeal. He has also been asked to post $ 1 bond before release.Arrest and detentionKhalil was arrested on 8 March in a lobby of his university -owned residence. He was the first person to be detained under the rupture of the Trump administration to target international students involved in Gaza protests. Khalil was married to an American citizen and recently became a father.After his arrest, Khalil was shifted across the country for a detention facility in Louisiana, away from his lawyers and family. His legal team led by the clear project of City University of New York challenged the detention as unconstitutional.“The court’s decision is the most important sign of Mahmud’s rights,” said Ramji Kasem, the director of clear. He said, “But we are not out of the forest until Mahmood returns independent with his wife and child,” he said.Legal argumentJudge Farbirz had earlier stated that efforts to expel Khalil on the basis of concerns of foreign policy were “probability unconstitutional”. The government has argued that Khalil’s presence can damage the US foreign policy. US State Secretary Marco Rubio called for the law to justify exile, saying that Khalil’s activism is “potentially severely adverse foreign policy results for the United States.”Khalil says that he did nothing wrong and hid nothing on the application of his green card. He told the court that he only did an internship approved by a university along with the United Nations Relief and Affairs Agency, and was not an officer as per the government’s claim.In the court filing, Khalil said that the government’s actions had already impressed his career, with Oxfam International withdrew the job offer due to the controversy. He also said that experience discouraged him from being engaged in future activism.No criminal allegations, increasing list of workers issuedKhalil was not arrested during the Colombia protest and was not accused of any crime. His public presence in the demonstrations attracted attention from critics and the White House, who accused him of “siding with terrorists” without providing evidence to him.He served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student protesters who camped in the campus. The University of Columbia later called the police to clean the infiltration after possession of a building, although Khalil was not involved in that action.Other legal residents detained for a similar activity have recently been released, including a student from Tufts, Georgetown and a Palestinian student from Columbia.