A United States federal judge has said that an effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to deport pro-Palestine student activist Mahmoud Khalil is likely unconstitutional.

District Judge Michael Farbiarz of New Jersey wrote on Wednesday that the government’s claim that Khalil constituted a threat to US national security and foreign policy was not likely to succeed.

“Would an ordinary person have a sense that he could be removed from the United States because he ‘compromise[d]’ American ‘foreign policy interests’ — that is, because he compromised US relations with other countries — when the Secretary has not determined that his actions impacted US relations with a foreign country?” Farbiarz wrote. “Probably not.”

Farbiarz did not immediately rule on the question of whether Khalil’s First Amendment rights to free speech were violated. He also did not order Khalil’s immediate release, citing unanswered questions about his permanent residency application.

The judge is expected to order further steps in the coming days.

A ruling against the government would be the latest legal setback for the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to crack down on pro-Palestine activism across the US in the name of national security and combating anti-Semitism.

But critics have accused the Trump administration of violating basic constitutional rights in its efforts to do so.

Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the US, was the first high-profile arrest made in the Trump administration’s push to expel student protesters involved in demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza.

A former graduate student, Khalil had served as a spokesperson for the antiwar protests at Columbia University. But on March 8, the 30-year-old was arrested in the hall of his student housing building in New York City, while his wife, Dr Noor Abdalla, filmed the incident.

He was then transferred from a detention centre in New Jersey to one in Jena, Louisiana, while his lawyers struggled to ascertain his location. He remains imprisoned in the Jena facility while the US government seeks his deportation.

In public statements, Khalil has said that his detention is part of an effort to chill dissent over US support for Israel’s war, which has been described as a genocide by human rights groups and United Nations experts.

Civil liberties organisations have also expressed alarm that Khalil’s detention appears premised on his political views, rather than any criminal acts. Khalil has not been charged with any crime.

In Louisiana, Khalil continues to face an immigration court weighing his deportation. But in a separate case before the US federal court in Newark, New Jersey, Khalil’s lawyers are arguing a habeas corpus petition: in other words, a case that argues their client has been unlawfully detained.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on behalf of the Trump administration, has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as the legal basis for Khalil’s detention.

That Cold War-era law stipulates that the secretary of state can deport a foreign national if that person is deemed to pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences”.

But that law has been rarely used and raises concerns about conflicts with the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to free speech regardless of citizenship.

Judge Farbiarz appeared to echo that concern, warning that the Trump administration’s rationale appeared to meet the standards for “constitutional vagueness”.

That, in turn, means Khalil’s petition is “likely to succeed on the merits of his claim” that the government’s actions were unconstitutional, the judge wrote on Wednesday.

Khalil’s legal team applauded the judge’s order, writing in a statement afterwards, “The district court held what we already knew: Secretary Rubio’s weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional.”

Khalil is one of several high-profile students whose cases have tested the constitutional bounds of the Trump administration’s actions.

Other international students detained for their involvement in pro-Palestine politics, such as Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, have been released from detention after legal challenges.

But Khalil remains in detention. The government denied a request for Khalil’s temporary release that would have allowed him to witness the birth of his son in April.

It also sought to prevent him from holding his newborn son during visitation sessions at a Louisiana detention centre.

“I am furious at the cruelty and inhumanity of this system that dares to call itself just,” Abdalla, Khalil’s wife, said in a statement.

She noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had denied the family “this most basic human right” after she flew more than 1,000 miles to visit him in Louisiana with their newborn son.

A judge blocked those efforts by ICE last week, allowing Khalil to hold his son for the first time more than one month after he was born.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that at least one Palestinian was killed and 48 were wounded when gunshots were fired on a crowd that overran a new aid distribution site in the war-battered enclave that was set up by an Israeli and U.S.-backed foundation.

Chaos erupted as crowds of Palestinians broke through the fences around the distribution site on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear who opened fire, Israeli forces, private contractors or others.

Israel has vowed to seize control of Gaza and fight until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and exiled, and until the militant group returns the remaining 58 hostages seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the 2023 attack. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

Here’s the latest:

Israel hits the airport in Yemen’s capital held by Iran-backed rebels

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday’s strikes destroyed the last plane used by the Houthi rebels, while the rebel-run al-Masirah TV said they had targeted a plane from the country’s flagship carrier Yemenia.

The strikes came after Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired several missiles at Israel in recent days, without causing casualties.

The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians. The Houthi missiles have mostly been intercepted, although some have penetrated Israel’s missile defense systems, causing casualties and damage.

Israel last struck the airport in Sanaa on May 6, destroying the airport’s terminal and leaving its runway riddled with craters. Some flights resumed to Sanaa on May 17.

A controversial new aid distribution system

The distribution hub outside Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah were chaos erupted on Tuesday was opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The foundation is taking over the handling of desperately needed aid under a new, U.S. and Israeli-backed system despite concerns raised about the group from the United Nations and the recent resignation of its executive director.

The U.N. and other humanitarian organizations have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. They have also warned of the risk of friction between Israeli troops and people seeking supplies.

Spokesman says the UN has nothing to do with the new aid system

Stephane Dujarric says the United Nations has not nothing to do with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s aid distribution because its plan does not comply with U,N. humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence and impartiality in delivering aid — which apply from Gaza to Sudan to Myanmar and dozens of other countries.

Dujarric said on Tuesday that it is “an arduous process” to coordinate with Israeli authorities to get U.N. trucks to the loading area to pick up aid, and to determine if roads for the trucks to traverse are safe.

“We’re still trying — desperately trying — to deliver aid based on our system that has worked … and it’s very challenging,” he said

U.S. President Donald Trump purported on Tuesday that Canada was “considering” giving up its statehood in exchange for protection by the proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system at no cost, despite Canadian officials repeatedly stating that the country is not for sale.

“I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome System, that it will cost $61 Billion Dollars if they remain a separate, but unequal, Nation, but will cost ZERO DOLLARS if they become our cherished 51st State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“They are considering the offer!” he claimed.

Trump has threatened in recent months to annex Canada, an idea fiercely rebuked by Canadian officials and their citizens.

KING CHARLES II VISITS CANADA AS SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR COUNTRY COVETED BY TRUMP

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who secured an election win last month in part due to Canadians’ opposition to Trump’s wish to make the country part of the U.S., told Trump earlier this month that his country “won’t be for sale, ever.”

King Charles III, who is recognized as Canada’s sovereign, gave a speech before the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday in which he appeared to reject Trump’s idea of purchasing the North American country and making it the 51st U.S. state.

“Canadians can give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away,” he said. “And that, by staying true to Canadian values, Canada can build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is greeted by U.S. President Donald Trump as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

As for the “Golden Dome,” Trump announced last week that the U.S. had officially selected the architecture for the missile defense system that would create a network of satellites to detect, track and potentially intercept incoming ballistic missiles.

The U.S. president said the project would cost $175 billion to build and that it was expected to be “fully operational” within three years. He also said Canada would be included in its safety net.

“Canada has called us, and they want to be a part of it. So we’ll be talking to them; they want to have protection also,” Trump said at the time.

CARNEY SAYS CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE, TRUMP REPLIES, ‘NEVER SAY NEVER’

U.S. President Donald Trump meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Carney’s office said last week that there were “active discussions” between the U.S. and Canada on current and new security programs, including the “Golden Dome.”

“Canadians gave the prime minister a strong mandate to negotiate a comprehensive new security and economic relationship with the United States,” a spokesperson for Carney told BBC News.

“To that end, the prime minister and his ministers are having wide-ranging and constructive discussions with their American counterparts. These discussions naturally include strengthening [North American Aerospace Defense Command] and related initiatives such as the Golden Dome,” the spokesperson continued.