One year later: Mahmoud Khalil remains in limbo but ready to fight

NPR | By Ximena Bustillo,

Carrie Johnson

Published March 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT

Khalil, who was detained last March, sits at the vanguard of a battle over immigrants' due process and civil rights pit against the Trump administration's mass-detention and deportation policies.

Ximena Bustillo

Ximena Bustillo is a multi-platform reporter at NPR covering politics out of the White House and Congress on air and in print.

Carrie Johnson

Carrie Johnson is a justice correspondent for the Washington Desk.

See stories by Carrie Johnson

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