"This vindicates what Mahmoud has maintained since day one — that the government cannot detain or deport him based on Rubio’s say-so," Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer for Khalil and a law professor at the City University of New York, said in a statement.

The Trump administration has distanced itself from Israel’s recent military actions against Iran. These strikes are expected to complicate President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal with Tehran.