The Trump administration’s detention of a green-card holder who was a leader in the Columbia University protests against Israel has put a face on the debate over immigration and the limits of free speech, with a sympathetic twist: The man, Mahmoud Khalil, is married to an American, and they are expecting their first child next month.

A DHS official defended Khalil’s detention in an interview on Thursday but did not provide additional details for his arrest.

We must treat attacks on our communities as an effort to silence every voice of dissent, because those are the stakes.

The Trump administration has not been subtle about its intentions. A White House official, speaking anonymously to the Free Press, told the right-leaning media organization that Khalil’s arrest would be a “blueprint” for other actions.

I was a student at Columbia University, where I covered tense campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war for the college newspaper and for POLITICO. So I’m familiar with Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student who I’ve chatted with in the past and appears to be the first target of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on student protesters.

Noor Abdalla, wife of detained Palestinian Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, says she thought her husband didn't have to worry about ICE.