Judge denies release request for pro-Palestinian activist Khalil

A US judge has denied pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s request to be released from detention after President Donald Trump’s administration said the Columbia University student was being held on an immigration fraud charge.

Newark, New Jersey-based US District Judge Michael Farbiarz says Khalil’s lawyers had not successfully argued why it was unlawful for the government to hold him on the charge, which he has denied.

Farbiarz suggests Khalil file an application for bail with the immigration judge in his case.

The ruling marks the latest turn in Khalil’s fight to be released from a Louisiana detention center after his March arrest for involvement in the pro-Palestinian protest movement, which Trump has called antisemitic.

As lawyers for the Syrian-born activist sought his release, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, another immigrant targeted by the Trump administration, pleaded not guilty to migrant smuggling charges after his wrongful deportation.

Marc Van Der Hout, a lawyer for Khalil, says the government practically never detained people for immigration fraud and he was being punished for opposing Israel’s U.S.-backed war in Gaza following Hamas’ October 2023 attack.