A US judge on Wednesday blocked an attempt by the Trump administration to dismiss a challenge by Mahmoud Khalil, a detained Columbia University student, to the legal process for his arrest by immigration officials for participating in pro-Palestinian protests. However, the judge remanded the case to New Jersey.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan agreed with the Justice Department that he lacked jurisdiction over the case.

Furman ordered the case transferred to federal court in New Jersey, where Khalil was being held when his lawyer first challenged his detention in New York.

Foreman has not issued a decision on Khalil's request for bail.

Several human rights organizations have condemned Khalil's arrest as an attack on freedom of expression and a violation of due process.

More than 100 Democratic lawmakers from the House of Representatives questioned the legality of the detention in a letter to the Trump administration.

Justice Department lawyers say Khalil, 30, is subject to deportation because Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that his presence in the United States could have "serious foreign policy consequences." Khalil's case could test how courts draw the line between the freedom of expression guaranteed to citizens and residents alike under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the executive branch's view that some protests could undermine foreign policy.