A Columbia University student arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over allegations he “led activities aligned to Hamas” was under investigation as a potential national security threat, it has been reported.

Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, was “presented with intelligence” that deemed Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestine activist who led protests on the Ivy League campus, as a threat to national security, according to the New York Post.

Mr Khalil, who faces deportation, is alleged to have led activities aligned to Hamas.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been “gathering intel” on those “actively engaging in supporting Hamas” since Donald Trump signed an executive order cracking down on anti-Israel demonstrators.

Mr Khalil, 30, a lawful US resident who was a graduate student at Columbia until December, was detained on Saturday by ICE agents in New York and flown to an immigration jail in Louisiana.

Deportation blocked

“They’re staging this guy for removal, but I don’t know where they’re gonna send him. We don’t have charter flights to send him to Syria,” a source told the New York Post.

But his deportation was blocked by a judge on Monday who ordered that Mr Khalil not be deported while the court considered a legal challenge brought by his lawyers.

Mr Khalil’s detention drew outrage from civil rights groups and free speech advocates, who accused the administration of using its immigration enforcement powers to squelch criticism of Israel.