A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to release Mahmoud Khalil on bail, a ruling that would end a three-month detention for Mr. Khalil, the only high-profile pro-Palestinian demonstrator in the United States who remains in confinement.
The ruling is a major victory and relief for Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and legal permanent U.S. resident who played a leading role in demonstrations at the school’s campus last year.
Mr. Khalil, whose wife and infant son are U.S. citizens, has not been charged with a crime.
Instead, the Trump administration justified holding him by invoking a rarely cited law that allows for the deportation of people who oppose the nation’s foreign policy objectives. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, accused Mr. Khalil of spreading antisemitism.
