Columbia University
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A Columbia University student who filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration was granted a temporary restraining order against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials who were out to arrest and deport her. U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald issued the order Tuesday (March 25) preventing the officials from taking Yunseo Chung into custody. “Nothing in the record has indicated in any way that she is a danger,” Buchwald said from the bench. Chung is the latest student activist who participated in pro-Palestinian protests targeted by the administration after the high-profile arrest of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Kahlil.A Department of Homeland Security official alleged that Chung “engaged in concerning conduct,” citing Chung’s arrest after a sit-in protest (which they claim was “pro-Hamas”) at a library at Barnard College, a sister school to Columbia. The 21-year-old received a ticket for “obstruction of governmental administration,” according to her lawsuit filed with CUNY Law School’s CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility) clinic. But ICE officials would show up at her parents’ home on March 9, and the following day Chung’s lawyer was informed that her lawful legal permanent status (Chung came to the U.S. from South Korea at the age of 7) was being revoked. ICE agents also searched for Chung at two residences including her dormitory.
The government, through the office of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is arguing that Chung’s presence in the country is preventing their foreign policy goal of fighting antisemitism. Judge Buchwald swatted down their reasoning, stating that they had to “provide sufficient advance notice” to Chung and her legal team. The judge also barred attempts to transfer Chung out of the Southern District of New York by ICE as they did with Kahlil by transferring him from a facility in Newark, New Jersey, to Louisiana. “No trips to Louisiana here,” she remarked.
“After the constant dread in the back of my mind over the past few weeks, this decision feels like a million pounds off of my chest. I feel like I could fly,” Chung said in a statement to the New York Times after the ruling, adding her gratitude to her lawyers, students, and professors at Columbia who “have given me strength at every turn.” One of her lawyers, CUNY Law Professor Ramzi Kassem, confirmed that Chung is still completing coursework to finish her junior year.
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An activist who was a key organizer of the pro-Palestinian student protest movement at Columbia University was arrested by ICE over the weekend.
The effort to detain and deport student activists by President Donald Trump took a new turn as federal authorities arrested an activist who helped organize pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia University. Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at the university until last December, was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last Saturday evening at his university-owned apartment. According to his lawyer, Amy Greer, Kahlil is a legal green card resident of the United States. They also threatened to arrest his wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant.
Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin confirmed Khalil’s arrest on Sunday night to the press. “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” she said. “ICE and the Department of State are committed to enforcing President Trump’s executive orders and to protecting U.S. national security.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio went further in a post on X, formerly Twitter, linking to another article covering the arrest and writing: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
“We will vigorously be pursuing Mahmoud’s rights in court, and will continue our efforts to right this terrible and inexcusable — and calculated — wrong committed against him,” Greer said in a statement, adding that Khalil’s arrest “follows the U.S. government’s open repression of student activism and political speech.” Greer said that they were unsure of his “precise whereabouts,” stating that they were told that he was being held in an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but when his wife arrived to visit she was told he wasn’t there. She speculated that he could be as far away as Louisiana.
Khalil had served as a negotiator between students who erected encampments at Columbia and university officials last spring. It made him a target for pro-Israel figures who labeled him as antisemitic, including Columbia University professor Shai Davidal who openly called for him to be deported. The arrest has sparked outrage from several civil liberties groups. Columbia Law School immigrant rights director Elora Mukherjee said that revoking Khalil’s green card with no criminal offense “in retaliation for his public speech, that is prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” expressing it was a rare situation.
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Student-led protests on college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza have led to increased tensions with administrators and arrests.
Protests supporting the Palestinian people in the Gaza region of Israel during the nation’s conflict with the Hamas terror organization on college campuses such as Columbia University in New York City have become highly intense within the last few days. The school is the home of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” erected last week by student protesters. The protests have riled up those for the Palestinians and those supporting Israel, leading Columbia President Dr. Minouche Shafik to initiate hybrid classes for the rest of the semester, which began Monday (April 22).
“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus,” she wrote in a statement, calling for a “reset” due to the Passover holiday and citing the concerns of Jewish students who said that they were being intimidated by the pro-Palestinian protesters and were hit with antisemitic threats. “Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” Shafik continued. The Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine group issued their statement, saying that they “firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry” and their criticisms are of Israel’s government.
Tensions at the encampment hit a fever pitch over the weekend as the New York Police Department arrested close to 100 protesters at the encampment, with dozens of students at Columbia and Barnard being suspended and barred from school housing including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Barnard has since offered an olive branch to those suspended, offering to lift them for students, acknowledging many had “not previously engaged in misconduct.” Republican federal lawmakers and Jewish groups, however, are in opposition to these moves and are calling for stricter punishment and protection of Jewish students.
The spirit of the protests has spread to other colleges – New York University and Yale University also saw encampments go up in solidarity with those at Columbia and Barnard. To date, there are encampments of protesters supporting the Palestinian people at 15 university campuses nationwide. Faculty members at New York University and Yale were arrested after police said they denied requests to leave. There is also a growing shift in public opinion, as polls are showing most Americans disapprove of Israel’s handling of the war that began after Oct. 7, 2023.
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