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.

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

A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead last spring's protests at Columbia University has been arrested by federal immigration agents.