Federal agents searched two student residences at Columbia University, its interim president said, a week after immigration agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of last year's campus protests, who the Trump administration wants to deport.

Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest, following the arrest by US immigration agents of Palestinian student protester Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University, in New York City, U.S., March 11,

Immigration enforcement agents on Saturday arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Palestinian activist.

U.S. immigration agents arrested a Palestinian graduate student who has played a prominent role in pro-Palestinian protests at New York's Columbia University as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on some anti-Israel activists.