The White House complained that Columbia University is refusing to help federal agents find people being sought as part of the government’s effort to deport participants in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

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

Columbia University has not helped the Department of Homeland Security identify individuals the government claims engaged in "pro-Hamas activity," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Tuesday press briefing.