Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil released from US custody as he faces deportation

Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests against Israel, is released from a federal detention center.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, has been in custody since March facing potential deportation.

“This shouldn’t have taken three months,” Khalil, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, tells US media outside an immigration detention center 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 says. “There’s no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide.”

The Department of Homeland Security criticizes District Judge Michael Farbiarz’s ruling as an example of how “out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining our national security.”

Under the terms of his release, Khalil will not be allowed to leave the United States except for “self-deportation,” and faces restrictions on where he can travel within the country.