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Federal Judge Lifts Travel Restrictions for Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Amid Deportation Battle
A federal judge has granted Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil the ability to travel freely across the U.S., a significant development in his ongoing fight against a deportation case initiated by the Trump administration. This ruling will allow Khalil to speak at rallies and other events nationwide.
Khalil, who was released from a Louisiana immigration detention facility in June – missing the birth of his first child – had previously sought to lift restrictions that limited his travel to New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Louisiana, and Michigan.
During a virtual hearing on Thursday, his attorney, Alina Das, emphasized the First Amendment implications of the case, stating, “He wants to travel for the very significant First Amendment reasons that are at the bottom of this case. He wants to speak to issues of public concern.”
Government attorney Aniello DeSimone opposed the request, arguing that Khalil “has not provided enough of a reason why he couldn’t attend these and other events telephonically.”
However, Magistrate Judge Michael Hammer sided with Khalil on Thursday, noting that the activist is not considered a flight risk and has not violated any of his release conditions. The judge did grant a government request that Khalil, a green card holder, inform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of his travel plans in advance.
Last month, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil, a former graduate student at Columbia University, could be deported for allegedly failing to disclose information on his green card application. His legal team is currently appealing this decision.
The government has accused Khalil of omitting details on his immigration paperwork regarding past associations, including membership in a United Nations agency working with Palestinians and his “continuing employment” at the British Embassy in Lebanon. Khalil has denied these misrepresentations, asserting he was an unpaid intern through Columbia, not a member of the U.N. agency, and that he ceased working at the British Embassy in Beirut in 2022.
Khalil, who was a prominent figure in protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia, was arrested by ICE agents on March 8. His arrest marked him as the first campus activist detained in what the Trump administration has characterized as a crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism. He is among several international students who have been detained due to their connections to pro-Palestinian campus activism, which the Trump administration alleges is rife with antisemitism – a charge the protesters deny.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin previously issued a statement asserting, “It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, take over buildings and deface property, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country.”
Khalil, in court papers, has denied advocating for violence or engaging in antisemitic speech during the campus protests, stating his commitment to “peaceful protest.”