New York, NY—Today, federal judge Michael E. Farbiarz of Federal District Court in Newark ruled that Mahmoud Khalil – a legal permanent resident of the United States and Columbia University student activist – be freed from ICE detention. Khalil has been held in a detention facility in Louisiana for three months solely on the basis of his political speech as a student, during which time his wife gave birth to their first child alone.
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Mahmoud Khalil will be finally freed, and he is on the road to justice as he navigates the continuing case. Khalil’s release will not erase the immense harm done to him and his family, but it’s a step forward to undoing the damage done to our Constitutional right to freedom of speech in America. Khalil’s case, and those of student activists like him, is a reminder that every single day, Donald Trump and his fascist collaborators are attacking the very concept of America itself in order to consolidate power and silence any political opposition. But it is also a reminder that Trump’s power is not absolute. Khalil’s story will be a lesson to be studied by future generations on the rise of Trump’s authoritarianism. The government’s case against Khalil must now be thrown out, so that he can freely return to his family, work and life in New York. Now, every other prisoner held by Trump’s mass disappearance machine must be freed as well.”