According to judge’s rules, Mahmoud Khalil can travel freely in the US while fighting his deportation case

A federal judge has lifted the travel ban for Mahmoud Khalil, allowing palestinian The activist will 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 In June the immigration jail asked a federal magistrate judge to lift restrictions that limited his travel new yorkNew Jersey, Washington, DC, Louisiana and michigan,

“He wants to travel for very important First Amendment reasons that get to the heart of this case,” his attorney Alina Das said during a virtual hearing Thursday. “He wants to talk about issues of public concern.”

Aniello DeSimone, a lawyer for the government, opposed the move, arguing that Khalil “has not provided sufficient reason why he could not attend these and other events by telephone.”

Magistrate Judge, Michael Hammer, agreed on Thursday to allow Khalil to travel, noting that he is not considered a flight risk and has not violated any of the conditions of his release.

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

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

After missing the birth of her first child, she was released from immigration jail by a different federal judge in June.

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