The Trump administration's campaign of deportation threats and secretive detentions against campus protesters is being condemned as bad for free speech and academic freedom in the U.S.

• Targets were threatened with deportation and then held in detention centers that lawyers and families could not reach.
• The case of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student detained over pro-Palestinian activism, is singled out as wrong.
• The crackdown is being blamed on pressure from wealthy pro-Israel donors.
• The push is described as the most aggressive attack on academic freedom in modern American history.

Outlook: Expect continued legal fights over the detentions and growing pressure on universities caught between the administration and their students.