When attorneys for Mahmoud Khalil enter the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York on Wednesday, they will have one mission in mind: to get their client, a Palestinian activist, released from an ICE facility in Louisiana and back to New York to be closer to legal counsel and family.

Mahmoud Khalil is being detained as his lawyer fights for his release. A Palestinian protest leader at Columbia University was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents Saturday night despite having a green card, his attorney said.

Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate and Palestinian who is in the country legally and holds a green card, was arrested by ICE over his role in pro-Palestinian activism.