The Trump administration is tightening its grip on efforts to quash pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, even as a protest over the detention of activist Mahmoud Khalil flared at the president’s New York City residence and resistance efforts continue in the courts and beyond.

The action came less than a week after Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate and a prominent figure in campus demonstrations, was arrested.

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

The US Justice Department is investigating whether individuals involved in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year violated federal anti-terrorism laws, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Friday.

Columbia University announced punishments, including expulsions and suspensions, for students who occupied Hamilton Hall in a pro-Palestinian protest last year.

Columbia University on Thursday said it had doled out a range of punishments to students who occupied a campus building last spring during pro-Palestinian protests. The announcement came a week after President Donald Trump's administration announced that it had canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts in response to what it said was the Ivy League school's poor response to antisemitism on campus.