A lawyer for the U.S. government on Wednesday said a federal judge in New York does not have jurisdiction to hear a Columbia University student's challenge to his arrest by immigration authorities. The case has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration's pledge to deport pro-Palestinian college activists.

Students gathered in New York City's Washington Square Tuesday to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this past weekend.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched downtown while a spokeswoman for President Trump said the president had the authority to detain Mahmoud Khalil.