US judge lifts travel restrictions for Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil

A federal judge has lifted travel restrictions for Mahmoud Khalil, allowing the Palestinian activist to speak at rallies and other events across the US as he fights his deportation case brought by the Trump administration.

Khalil, who was freed from a Louisiana immigration jail in June, had asked a federal magistrate judge to lift the restrictions that limited his travel to New York, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Louisiana and Michigan.

"He wants to travel for the very significant First Amendment reasons that are at the bottom of this case," his lawyer, Alina Das, said during a virtual hearing on Thursday. "He wants to speak to issues of public concern."  An attorney for the government, Aniello DeSimone, opposed the move, arguing that Khalil "has not provided enough of a reason why he could not attend these and other events telephonically".

The magistrate judge, Michael Hammer, agreed on Thursday to allow Khalil to travel, noting he is not considered a flight risk and had not violated any of his release conditions.

Hammer granted the government's request that Khalil alert US Immigration and Customs Enforcement about his travel plans ahead of time.

A prominent figure at Columbia University protests against the war in Gaza, Khalil was arrested by ICE agents on March 8, becoming the first campus activist swept up in President Donald Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists. He is a recent graduate student at Columbia and a legal US permanent resident.

After missing the birth of his first child, he was released from the immigration jail in June by a separate federal judge.

Last month, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil could be deported for failing to disclose information on his green card application. His attorneys are currently challenging that decision.