An activist who led Pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University will remain detained in Louisiana following a brief Wednesday court hearing. Judge Jesse Furman said he would grant a request by Mahmoud Khalil's lawyers allowing them to have privileged phone calls with Khalil at least twice — today and tomorrow.

The 12 protesters were taken into custody as scores of people rallied outside City Hall Park in lower Manhattan Tuesday evening.

Mahmoud Khalil's detention appears to be one of the first efforts by Trump to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement.