Judge Declines to Order Release of Columbia Student Mahmoud Khalil

The Trump administration told a judge on June 13 that it would detain Khalil on a legal ground not blocked by the judge’s previous order.

Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City on June 1, 2024. Jeenah Moon/Reuters

A federal judge has denied Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil’s request for an order forcing the Trump administration to release him from custody.

The decision from District Judge Michael Farbiarz came after Justice Department attorneys informed him that it would continue detaining Khalil on a different legal ground than what Farbiarz had addressed in a prior order.

On June 11, Farbiarz blocked Khalil’s detention based on a determination made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Khalil’s presence compromised a compelling foreign policy interest. As Farbiarz noted on June 13, his order didn’t extend to a separate legal ground that the administration invoked for detaining Khalil—specifically based on an allegation that he inaccurately completed his lawful resident application.

“Khalil is now detained based on that other charge of removability,” the Justice Department told Farbiarz in a letter on June 13.

Both the judge and the Justice Department said Khalil could seek relief in the usual administrative system that governs immigration cases. The judge also said Khalil could use a bail application.

Earlier on June 13, Khalil’s attorneys had sent Farbiarz a letter requesting an order for his release from detention. In their letter, the attorneys doubted that Khalil would be detained because of the charge related to his application.

They pointed to Farbiarz’s order, which read in part: “The Court finds as a matter of fact that it is overwhelmingly likely that the Petitioner would not be detained based solely on the lawful-permanent-resident-application charge. Rather, the Court finds, the Petitioner’s detention almost surely flows from the charge that is based on the Secretary of State’s determination.”

The Justice Department said, however, that even without the secretary of state’s determination, Khalil could remain in detention while his case plays out in the immigration system.

“Khalil may seek release through the appropriate administrative processes, first before an officer of the Department of Homeland Security ... and secondly through a custody redetermination hearing before an immigration judge, if necessary,” the department’s letter reads.

According to the department, obtaining that release would entail Khalil demonstrating to a Department of Homeland Security official that he didn’t pose a danger to property or persons.

The American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers are working on Khalil’s case, did not respond to a request for comment before publishing time.

In his June 11 order, Farbiarz also indicated that he thought Khalil’s detention would still encounter constitutional issues.

“It might be argued,” he said, that if Khalil was detained based on his application, “there would not be any incremental chilling effect from detaining the Petitioner for an additional reason, the Secretary of State’s determination.”

“But that argument does not work,” he added before pointing to evidence that he said showed that lawful permanent residents were “virtually never detained” for the type of omissions Khalil allegedly had.