The US Justice Department is investigating whether individuals involved in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year violated federal anti-terrorism laws, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Friday.

The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it was looking into what it said were possible violations of terrorism laws during protests over the Gaza war at Columbia University, putting fresh pressure on the epicenter of last year's nationwide anti-Israel activism.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Columbia University concealed ''illegal aliens'' on its campus, one of its top officials said Friday, as the Trump administration intensified its campaign to deport foreigners who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school last year.

The action came less than a week after Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate and a prominent figure in campus demonstrations, was arrested.

The U.S. Justice Department is examining whether student protests at Columbia University over the Gaza war violated federal terrorism laws, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday. Blanche said the investigation is also looking into civil rights violations tied to the demonstrations that roiled the New York campus last year.