WASHINGTON

The White House sought to defend Tuesday the arrest and avowed deportation of a pro-Palestinian activist, alleging he sided "with terrorists" and disseminated pro-Hamas propaganda during last year's national antiwar protests.

Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Secretary of State Marco Rubio "reserves the right to revoke the visa of Mahmoud Khalil" under a 1952 law known as the Immigration and Nationality Act.

"Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation's finest universities and colleges, and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists, Hamas, terrorists who have killed innocent men, women and children," she said.

"This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro Hamas propaganda flyers with the logo of Hamas," added Leavitt.

Leavitt said she has copies of the purported flyers "on my desk," claiming they "have the logo of an organization that has held Americans hostage, that murdered innocent babies, that murdered men, women and children."

According to Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, the Columbia University graduate was “wrongfully arrested” on Saturday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who claimed his student visa was revoked -- even though he is a legal permanent resident and not in the US on a student visa. He is married to a US citizen who is eight months pregnant.

President Donald Trump has defended Khalil's arrest, calling it “the first arrest of many to come.” Trump said Khalil, whom he described as a “foreign pro-Hamas student,” was detained by ICE under executive orders he signed.

Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime, and a judge on Monday evening ordered the Trump administration not to deport him "to preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling" on the case.

Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in New York City on Monday to demand his release. Several US lawmakers and civil rights organizations took to social media to criticize his arrest.

A joint letter co-signed by 13 lawmakers said they are "horrified by the recent illegal abduction of Mahmoud Khalil and indefinite detention of Mahmoud Khalil."

"He has been denied meaningful access to counsel and any visitation from his family. This is absolutely unacceptable - and illegal. Their access to him must be immediately restored," the letter from the House of Representatives lawmakers, including representative Rashida Tlaib, said.