A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Palestinian Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil cannot be deported for now, delaying his removal amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on a few anti-Israel protesters. The judge scheduled a court hearing for Wednesday to review the case. Trump publicly criticised Khalil and warned that more arrests would follow. Khalil has been transferred to a federal detention centre for migrants in Louisiana while awaiting deportation proceedings, according to his lawyers and official records.

His arrest has sparked strong opposition from demonstrators in New York City, as well as from the state attorney general and the American Civil Liberties Union, who view it as an attack on free speech. Tensions escalated when police clashed briefly with hundreds of protesters in lower Manhattan. According to a Reuters witness, at least one person was taken into custody during the confrontation.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident, was arrested on Saturday. He has been a key figure in Columbia University's pro-Palestinian student protests, which sparked demonstrations across the U.S. and globally last year. President Donald Trump referred to Khalil on social media as a "Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student."

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman temporarily halted Khalil’s deportation "unless and until the Court orders otherwise." His lawyers also requested that he be brought back to New York, arguing that the government was trying to limit his access to legal representation by moving him far away. Trump stated that Khalil’s arrest was "the first arrest of many to come." However, the Trump administration has not accused Khalil of any crime. Trump claimed on social media that Khalil's presence in the U.S. was "contrary to national and foreign policy interests."

Additionally, the Education Department sent warning letters on Monday to 60 U.S. universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and multiple University of California campuses. The letters threatened potential federal funding cuts if the institutions did not address allegations of antisemitism on their campuses.

Ahead of Khalil’s arrest, students reported seeing federal immigration agents around student housing near Columbia University’s Manhattan campus since Thursday. This was just a day before the Trump administration announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the university, citing concerns over antisemitic harassment on and around the campus.

According to the Student Workers of Columbia labour union, federal agents have been attempting to detain at least one other international student. However, spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declined to comment on the union’s claims, which Reuters could not independently verify. A spokesperson for the Department of State also stated that visa records are confidential under U.S. law, so the department could not comment on the matter.

The whole incident began on Saturday evening when Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Khalil in front of his eight-month pregnant wife, who is a U.S. citizen, who is, claiming that his student visa had been revoked, according to his lawyer, Amy Greer.

Khalil’s wife presented his green card to the agents, but they insisted it had also been revoked. Greer stated that the agents even threatened to arrest her if she did not leave the building’s lobby. They then handcuffed Khalil and took him into custody.

Just hours before his arrest, Khalil had expressed concerns to Reuters that the government was targeting him. Khalil and other activists argue that Jewish students are among the protest organisers and believe their criticism of Israel and its U.S. support is being unfairly equated with antisemitism.

On Monday, Jewish faculty members at Columbia University gathered outside a campus building for a rally and press conference supporting Khalil. They held signs that read, "Jews say no to deportations."

Marianne Hirsch, a Columbia University professor of English and comparative literature, spoke at the event. Reflecting on her experience growing up in Romania as a child of Holocaust survivors, she said, "There is a chill in the air. It's a chill of fear and despair."

While the Trump administration has raised concerns about antisemitism, Trump and his allies have also faced accusations of encouraging it.

After a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where demonstrators held torches and vocalised, "Jews will not replace us", Trump claimed there were "fine people on both sides."

Trump, who denies being antisemitic, also drew criticism in 2022 for having dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.