Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian activist Saturday who played a prominent role in Columbia University's protests against Israel, a significant escalation in the Trump administration's pledge to detain and deport student activists.

Khalil's arrest is the first known deportation effort under Trump’s promised crackdown on students who protested the war in Gaza.

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at the university until December last year, was arrested by plainclothes officers of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday. This is the maiden known deportation effort by the Donald Trump administration,