US campuses including Columbia University in New York were rocked by student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, drawing accusations of anti-Semitism.

Immigration officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of protests at Columbia, on the weekend of March 9-10 after US President Donald Trump pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.

The White House later said authorities had supplied a list of other Columbia students who officers were seeking to deport over their alleged participation in protests.

“These actions are disproportionate, unnecessary, and discriminatory and will only lead to more trauma and polarisation negatively impacting the learning environment within university campuses,” a group of United Nations-appointed experts said in a statement.

“These actions create a chilling effect on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association,” they added.

The independent experts, appointed by the UN to report on rights issues, urged US authorities “to cease repression and retaliation, including in the form of arbitrary detention of US lawful permanent residents, and removal of international students who have participated in university protests”.