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HOUSTON, United States

Attorneys for pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil on Monday asked a federal judge to immediately release the Columbia University graduate on bail or else allow him to be transferred from an immigration jail in the US state of Louisiana to a detention facility in his home state of New Jersey.

Khalil, 30, was originally detained at his home in New York City in March and transferred 1,400 miles (2,253 kilometers) away to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Louisiana. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) detained Khalil on allegations that his presence in the US posed a threat to the country's foreign policy.

Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled on Friday that Khalil could not be deported for that reason, but declined to release him based on a second charge by the government alleging that Khalil had omitted information on his green card application regarding his work history and affiliations. Khalil's attorneys have disputed those allegations.

"The Court should grant Petitioner’s pending motion to compel his return to New Jersey," wrote attorney Naz Ahmad in the court petition as an alternative to not being released from custody.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is also petitioning for Khalil's transfer to a New Jersey facility after he was denied release.

"The request comes after the government informed the court Friday that it would continue to detain Mr. Khalil in a remote facility in Jena, Louisiana, based on false and pretextual allegations connected with his green card application because a preliminary injunction that entered into effect Friday blocks his detention on purported foreign policy grounds," the ACLU said in a statement.

Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, was arrested on March 8 and has become the face of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on non-US citizens who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza.

Even though he has not been accused of a crime, the Trump administration has argued that if Khalil is not deported, he could undermine foreign policy goals regarding fighting antisemitism.

"The government is making desperate, last-ditch attempts to keep my husband unjustly imprisoned," said Khalil's wife, Noor Abdalla, in a statement. "We are not afraid and will not be intimidated, because we know, and the government knows, it is only a matter of time before Mahmoud is free."

"The American people are with us and can see right through the government's unjust attempts to delay his release," Abdalla continued. "No matter what the government pulls, we will bring Mahmoud home safe."