Alexandria, Louisiana - A judge ordered Thursday that an Indian researcher at a top American university not be removed from the country, following his arrest and threat of expulsion for alleged Hamas ties.

The detention of Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in the US capital, came as fears mount in the academic world that freedom of research and speech is being challenged two months into President Donald Trump's new term.

Suri's lawyer demanded his release and denounced the arrest as a "targeted, retaliatory detention" that was intended "to silence, or at the very least restrict and chill, his speech" as well as that of others who "express support for Palestinian rights."

Early Thursday evening Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia Court ordered Suri "shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order."

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has also filed an emergency motion to stop the deportation, said Suri was being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.

"Ripping someone from their home and family, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint is a clear attempt by President Trump to silence dissent," said ACLU immigrant rights attorney Sophia Gregg. "That is patently unconstitutional."

"Dr. Khan Suri is an Indian national who was duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan," Georgetown University said in a statement.

"We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention."

Neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio "nor any other government official has alleged that Mr Suri has committed any crime or, indeed, broke any law whatsoever," Suri's lawyer said in the court filing.

The filing accused the US government of having detained him "based on his family connection and constitutionally protected free speech."

Suri's attempted deportation comes amid the Trump administration's alarming crackdown on support for Palestinian human rights, which has also included the detention of US green card holder Mahmoud Khalil, who played a key role in Palestine solidarity protests at Columbia University.