Nationwide protests are planned this weekend after Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student activist, was arrested by immigration authorities, fueling tensions between the Trump administration and student movements over immigration policy.

A Palestinian woman was arrested in New Jersey, while another activist from India chose to "self-deport", US officials say.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Columbia University concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus, one of its top officials said Friday, as the Trump administration intensified its campaign to deport foreigners who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school last year.

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security searched two university residences with a warrant Thursday evening. No one was arrested and it was unclear whom the authorities were searching for.

Ranjani Srinivasan’s student visa was revoked on March 5 for “advocating for violence and terrorism,” the Homeland Security Department said in a statement Friday.