Judge Declines Bail for Columbia Protester Mahmoud Khalil Amid Ongoing ICE Detention in Louisiana

Edited by: Fern Sidman

Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder and graduate student associated with Columbia University, will remain behind bars in a Louisiana immigration detention facility following a pivotal court decision on Friday. According to a report in The New York Post, a New Jersey federal judge opted not to consider bail for Khalil during an hour-long hearing, further prolonging his detention.

Judge Michael Farbiarz of Newark’s federal court declined to entertain arguments over Khalil’s potential release on bail, focusing instead on a procedural question raised by federal authorities: whether the case should be transferred to Louisiana, where Khalil is currently held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The hearing, which Khalil did not attend, was observed by his wife, Noor Abdalla.

Khalil has been detained for over two weeks after being apprehended by ICE agents at his university-owned apartment building in Manhattan. The New York Post reported that his arrest has ignited a firestorm of debate, with Khalil becoming emblematic of what some see as a broader crackdown on pro-Hamas student demonstrators under President Trump’s policies that call for visa revocations of foreign students who foment violence on US college campuses and agitate against Israel.

One of Khalil’s attorneys, Ramzi Kassem, spoke to reporters following the hearing and called attention to the human toll of Khalil’s detention, especially on his wife. Kassem relayed that Noor Abdalla, who is expecting the couple’s first child, is struggling both emotionally and physically without her husband. “She has said publicly that Mr. Khalil was her main support during her pregnancy. He prepared all her meals. He made sure she took her medication,” Kassem told reporters, as cited by The New York Post.

The circumstances of Khalil’s arrest and continued detention have cast a spotlight on the intersection of immigration enforcement, student activism, and escalating political tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. While the legal question at hand is ostensibly procedural—whether his deportation case should be litigated in New Jersey or Louisiana—the broader implications have drawn national attention.

The New York Post report noted that Khalil’s case has become a rallying point for activists and legal advocates who argue that ICE’s actions are politically motivated and aimed at silencing dissent on university campuses. As Columbia University and other elite institutions navigate growing unrest and protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict, Khalil’s legal battle has become emblematic of a wider reckoning over civil liberties and immigration enforcement.

Though Judge Farbiarz has yet to issue a ruling on the venue question, the decision to delay bail considerations effectively prolongs Khalil’s confinement, leaving his legal team and family in a state of suspended uncertainty. No future court date has yet been set for the next phase of the proceedings.