Overview

• U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz found that Secretary of State Rubio’s foreign policy determination under Section 1227 is unconstitutionally vague and likely violates Khalil’s constitutional rights.
• Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian Columbia University graduate and green card holder, was arrested by ICE in March under a Cold War–era deportation statute citing alleged ties to Hamas and disruptive campus protests.
• The judge declined to grant Khalil’s immediate release and directed his legal team to address government claims that he failed to disclose past affiliations on his residency application.
• Khalil remains in a Louisiana detention facility, separated from his wife and newborn son, with an injunction barring deportation while constitutional challenges proceed.
• The case has raised questions about executive authority and free speech protections, and Khalil’s lawyers have filed a FOIA request to investigate coordination between federal officials and pro-Israel groups in targeting student activists.