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.

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 demonstrati