Immigration enforcement agents on Saturday arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Palestinian activist.

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

The post White House says Columbia University activist detained for distributing ‘pro-Hamas propaganda’ appeared first on The Times of Israel.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleged that Khalil had played a role in organizing demonstrations at which fliers were handed out bearing a logo for Hamas, which she did not display.

The Trump administration blamed the university’s failure to protect Jewish students from harassment during protests last year over the war in Gaza.

Administration officials cited a rarely used provision that allows people’s removal if they present “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”

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.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed Tuesday that ex-Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil is in the process of being deported for allegedly circulating “pro-Hamas propaganda flyers” — with President Trump saying later in the day that he watched “tapes” of Khalil’s anti-Israel activism and wanted to “get him the hell out of the country.