Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was released from US immigration custody on Wednesday, after a judge ruled he should be free on bail to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests.

Mahdawi, born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, was arrested earlier this month upon arriving for an interview for his US citizenship petition. A judge swiftly ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration not to deport him from the United States or take him out of the state of Vermont.

After two weeks in detention, Mahdawi walked out of the federal courthouse in Burlington, Vermont, following US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford order that he be released at a court hearing on Wednesday.

In his ruling, Crawford said Mahdawi did not pose a danger to the public and was not a flight risk. The judge drew parallels between the current political climate and the Red Scare and McCarthyism eras of the last century when thousands of people were targeted for deportation due to their political views.

Mahdawi’s release marked a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian foreign university students, though other students remain in jail.

“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his cabinet, I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said after he emerged from the courthouse, dozens of protesters waving Palestinian flags chanting “no fear” and “yes love”.