Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and permanent US resident, is “likely to win on the merits” of his arguments against the federal government’s assertion that he poses a threat to the administration’s foreign policy goal of combatting antisemitism, the lengthy order by Judge Michael Farbiarz of the Federal District Court in New Jersey finds.

Protesters occupy Trump Tower over arrest of Mahmoud Khalil

Though the ruling establishes that Khalil is likely to succeed on his constitutional claim, Farbiarz stopped short of granting immediate release.

Judges have ordered several of the other academics released from jail, but Khalil has remained locked up while fighting his deportation on two parallel tracks: Farbiarz’s courtroom in New Jersey and a separate immigration court proceeding in Louisiana.