A judge granted Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team more time to review his immigration case during a hearing Friday in Louisiana. 

Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on March 8. He is facing possible deportation over his alleged support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, although he has not been charged with a crime. 

The judge at Lasalle Immigration Court in Jena said she thinks Khalil “deserves more time” to prepare before a pleading and delayed further proceedings until April 8. 

A lawyer representing the Department of Homeland Security originally objected to the matter, arguing that Khalil is being “held at the government’s expense.” However, Khalil’s attorney told the judge that “these are serious charges, we need time to review.” 

Mahmoud Khalil tells his wife to call his lawyer, Amy, when being arrested. (The Family of Mahmoud Khalil)

In one of the first legal victories for Khalil, a judge on Wednesday ordered his deportation case be heard in New Jersey, not Louisiana, where he is being held. The judge cited a law that required the case be held in the same jurisdiction where Khalil’s attorneys first filed a lawsuit to challenge his detention.  

The Trump administration previously said there was a bedbug infestation at the detention facility in New Jersey, near Khalil’s arrest, leading them to have to ship him to Louisiana. 

LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, La., where Khalil appeared for a hearing on Friday, March 21. (Olivianna Calmes/Fox News)

“His unlawful and unjust detention cannot stand. We will not stop fighting until he is home with me,” Noor Abdalla, his wife, said in a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this week. 

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.