NEW YORK — Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil will remain at a detention center in Louisiana for the near future as a Manhattan federal judge weighs further arguments from the pro-Palestinian student activist’s attorneys and government lawyers seeking his deportation following a brief hearing Wednesday.

Manhattan Federal Judge Jesse Furman, handling a habeas corpus petition from Khalil’s attorneys and request to order him transferred back to New York, ordered more briefs from them and the government.

He also entered an order that the pro-Palestinian student activist be permitted privileged calls with his lawyers, who said they had not been able to speak with him since his sudden arrest and transfer more than 1,000 miles away.

Khalil’s arrest and detention has touched off widespread protests across NYC.

At Wednesday’s hearing, a lawyer for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office told the judge the government believed the matter should be moved to a different jurisdiction, given Khalil’s location in Louisiana. The judge said the venue was determined by where Khalil was when his lawyers filed their petition, which was Elizabeth, N.J.

Khalil, 30, was detained by plainclothes agents from the Homeland Security Department around 8:30 p.m. Saturday as he returned home to his Columbia-owned apartment from an Iftar dinner with his wife, who is eight months pregnant. Furman earlier this week temporarily halted his removal from the country.

His attorney, Amy Greer, told the agents by phone that he was not in the U.S. on a student visa but on a green card. The agents said the green card was being revoked and hung up on Greer, according to the lawyer and Khalil’s wife, who has requested anonymity. As a green card holder, Khalil is protected by the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.

The student activist played a prominent role in the widely-publicized demonstrations at Columbia last year, where students protested the university’s investment ties to Israel, the bombings in Gaza, and U.S. involvement. He acted as a meditator between students and the university.

The White House, the Homeland Security Department, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have framed Khalil’s advocacy for Palestinian civilians as antisemitic and support for Hamas, which the U.S. and several other counties designate as a terrorist group.

Khalil has denied he has expressed support for the group or hatred toward Jews in his calls for a ceasefire in the region.

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