US judge slams Trump admin for violating student activist’s rights, halts detention

In a sharp legal rebuke to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, a US federal judge on June 11 ruled that Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can no longer be held in detention on grounds that his presence poses a threat to US foreign policy.

Judge Michael Farbiarz of the US District Court in Newark held that the Trump administration violated Khalil’s constitutional right to free speech by detaining him under a rarely used immigration law that grants the US Secretary of State the authority to expel non-citizens deemed harmful to American foreign policy interests.

Khalil, who has not been charged with any crime, was taken into custody in March following a designation by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that labeled him a threat. The court did not order Khalil's immediate release but set the ruling to take effect at 9:30 a.m. EDT on June 6, giving federal authorities a brief window to appeal.

“The petitioner’s career and reputation are being damaged, and his speech is being chilled — this adds up to irreparable harm,” Judge Farbiarz wrote in his opinion.

He further barred the administration from attempting to deport Khalil on the same grounds, calling the legal justification “deeply problematic.”

Khalil’s wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, welcomed the ruling with relief and emotion: “This is the news we’ve been waiting over three months for. Mahmoud must be released immediately and safely returned home to New York to be with me and our newborn baby, Deen,” she was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The case has drawn widespread attention, spotlighting what civil liberties advocates say is an alarming overreach of executive power to silence political dissent under the guise of national security.