A former interpreter for the U.S. military who had been in immigration detention since June was free Saturday following a ruling by a San Diego judge.

Sayed Naser Noori was arrested while appearing at his first immigration court hearing since entering the United States last year after fleeing Afghanistan.

“It’s great. The experience of feeling to be free is really great,” he said in a video posted on social media Friday night. “When I was in detention it was hard to believe that I am going to be free.”

At the hearing, the man’s asylum case was dismissed after government attorneys argued his notice to appear in court was “improvidently issued.” He was then arrested and placed in expedited removal proceedings.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel wrote in a brief order issued Friday that N

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