A federal judge ruled this week that the government cannot hold the Columbia University graduate under the rarely invoked law it used to detain him.

The federal judge overseeing the case Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil ruled Friday that he won't release him from government custody.

Mahmoud Khalil’s hopes of being freed on bond as he continues fighting the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him were dashed Friday, despite a judge saying the government could no longer hold Khalil on the premise that his presence in the country is against the national interest.