STORY: A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release Mahmoud Khalil from immigration custody.
:: File
The Columbia University graduate is a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian protests.
Rights groups say he was unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration for his activism.
:: The Family of Mahmoud Khalil
He was arrested by immigration agents in March.
On Friday - Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered the Department of Homeland Security to release him from custody at a jail for immigrants in rural Louisiana.
Farbiarz said the government didn't rebut evidence from Khalil's lawyers that he wasn't a flight risk - or a danger to the public.
A White House spokesperson condemned the decision - and is expected to appeal.
President Donald Trump has called pro-Palestinian protests anti-semetic - and vowed to deport foreign students who took part.
Khalil became the first target of this policy.
He's a legal permanent resident of the U.S. - and says he's being punished for his political speech, in violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
