The Trump administration has admitted in court that it did not have a warrant when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil.

Professors reached by Gothamist Friday questioned why the school — a flashpoint in the debate over deportations, after high-profile cases in which foreign students who’d protested Israel’s campaign in Gaza found their legal status revoked — say the school should have fought back against removals they argue were always on shaky legal ground.

New documents entered in a New Jersey court on Thursday show that the federal government defended its warrantless arrest of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil by saying agents feared he’d flee because he said he would leave the scene.