NEWARK, N.J. — Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student released after more than three months in ICE detention, arrived in the New York metropolitan area on Saturday.
Khalil greeted reporters and supporters as he pushed a stroller through Newark International Airport.
Immigration authorities had arrested Khalil, 30, in March at the university housing complex where he lived in New York City. He was quickly transported thousands of miles away to a detention center in Louisiana, where he spent the last few months.
His unprecedented detention has sparked national outrage.
Further fueling the controversy, Khalil’s American wife gave birth to the couple’s first son in April while he remained behind bars.
Upon his release in Louisiana on Friday, Khalil addressed reporters briefly, saying he was excited to return to New York City and see his family.
“Although justice prevailed,” he said upon his release, “it’s long, very long overdue. And this shouldn’t have taken three months.”
“Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this,” he added. “That doesn’t mean that there is a right person for this. There’s no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide, for protesting their university, Columbia University.”
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin on Friday denounced the judicial order freeing Khalil and the judge who issued it.
“This is yet another example of how out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining national security,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “Their conduct not only denies the result of the 2024 election, it also does great harm to our constitutional system by undermining public confidence in the courts.”
The Trump administration claimed it had the authority to detain and deport the pro-Palestinian student activist, arguing that his presence in the U.S. threatened national security. Another charge against Khalil alleges that he omitted details about his work history and membership in organizations on his permanent residency application.
The government cited an obscure provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that gives Secretary of State Marco Rubio authority to “personally determine” whether a foreign national can remain in the U.S. on national security grounds.
An NBC News review of more than 100 pages of court filings found that prosecutors relied on unverified tabloid reports and anecdotal claims, raising doubts about the strength of their case for deporting Khalil.
Less than 10 minutes after Khalil, who has no criminal history, was released from the detention center in Jena, Louisiana, the Trump administration filed a notice of appeal.
Khalil helped lead student protests over the war in Gaza and negotiations with university officials at Columbia last year. The protests at the Ivy League school gripped national headlines for weeks and inspired similar demonstrations at universities around the world.
Some Jewish students at universities across the U.S. reported antisemitic incidents as the protest movement gained traction.
Khalil was the first of several foreign academics apprehended by immigration authorities in the first months of Trump’s second term.
Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral candidate from Turkey, was arrested outside her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, by immigration authorities on March 25. Viral street footage of her arrest showed Department of Homeland Security officials dressed in plain clothes surrounding Öztürk, grabbing her by the wrists and escorting her into an unmarked vehicle.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a 34-year-old graduate student at Columbia who was born in the West Bank, was apprehended by immigration authorities during his naturalization interview in Vermont.
Federal judges also ordered the release of both Öztürk and Mahdawi in recent weeks. Other notable cases include a Georgetown University professor who was detained by ICE and later released after a judicial order, and a Brown University professor who was deported to Lebanon.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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