Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests, was released Friday from a federal detention center.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, has been in custody since March facing potential deportation.

"This shouldn't have taken three months," Khalil, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, told US media outside an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana hours after a federal judge ordered his release.

"(President Donald) Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this," he said. "There's no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide."

The Department of Homeland Security criticized District Judge Michael Farbiarz's ruling Friday........

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