A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to detail the legal precedent for its plan to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist whose presence in the country the government claims could harm US foreign policy interests.

U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz in Newark, New Jersey, ordered the administration to provide a list of every case in which U.S. officials used the law against Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student who led campus protests demanding an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The judge requested details of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision regarding the risks posed by Khalil's presence in the United States. He gave the government until 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday.

Khalil was arrested on March 8 at his New York City apartment building in the presence of his wife, a US citizen. Khalil became a permanent resident of the United States last year and has been held without charge since his arrest. The US administration is seeking Khalil's deportation under a section of immigration law that allows for the removal of "an alien whose presence or activities in the United States may have potentially adverse foreign policy consequences."