Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil should be protected from deportation, which could put his life at risk, his attorneys argued Thursday.

The activist, who has been detained in Louisiana for two months, was allowed to meet privately with his wife and child. He is fighting deportation.

An immigration judge in Louisiana on Thursday denied a request to terminate Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation proceedings after his attorneys argued that he was arrested illegally and without a warrant over two months ago.