Ex-Columbia Grad Student Khalil Released From ICE Custody
A protester holds a sign during a demonstration at Ervan Chew Park in Houston, Texas, on June 8.
Photographer: Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Getty Images
A former Columbia University graduate student detained for more than three months over his role in pro-Palestinian protests was released Friday from immigration detention, allowing him to continue a legal fight to avoid deportation while out on bail.
Mahmoud Khalil, 29, was set free from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana after a judge ordered his release, Khalil’s lawyers said in a court filing. Khalil claimed he’d been unlawfully held in retaliation for his activities to oppose Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas.