Overview

• Khalil, a Palestinian activist with a US Green Card and a Columbia University alumnus, was arrested by ICE in March for distributing pro-Palestinian materials on campus.
• District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled that the government offered no evidence of flight risk or violence and described the detention as “very, very unusual.”
• After more than three months in a Louisiana immigration facility, Khalil was released on bail on June 20 and returned to New York.
• The case centers on a rarely used Cold War–era law allowing the administration to deport individuals deemed harmful to US foreign policy.
• The Justice Department has announced plans to appeal, setting up a broader legal debate over free speech protections and executive authority.