The Department of Homeland Security defended the warrantless arrest by saying it feared Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident, would flee.

The Trump administration had no arrest warrant for former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil when he was detained, court documents on Thursday showed. In the documents, the government said the

Federal authorities arrested anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant last month, lawyers for the Trump administration admitted Thursday – but argued officers didn’t have a choice. The Columbia University graduate was taken into custody on March 8 after an immigration officer believed the former campus protester and legal permanent resident was a “flight risk,