The US Department of Justice is investigating whether Columbia University concealed students sought by immigration authorities. The investigation follows the Trump administration’s efforts to deport foreign nationals involved in pro-Palestinian protests at the university last year.
Search warrant executed at university residences
Homeland Security agents executed search warrants at two university residences on Thursday evening. No arrests occurred at the time, but US officials later confirmed that they were pursuing two individuals linked to the protests. One individual, a doctoral student from India, had his visa revoked by the Trump administration and fled the US on a flight. Another individual, a Palestinian woman arrested during the April protests, was taken into custody by federal immigration officials in Newark, New Jersey, for overstaying her visa.
Columbia University’s response and commitment to the law
Columbia University responded with a message from interim president Katrina Armstrong. She assured the university community that the school would uphold the law. Armstrong expressed concern about the federal agents’ presence on campus and reiterated the university’s commitment to protecting knowledge, due process, and the well-being of its community.
Increasing pressure on Columbia from the Trump administration
Recently, the Trump administration increased pressure on Columbia. The US government revoked $400 million in federal grants and contracts, mostly for medical research. The administration cited Columbia’s failure to act more decisively against students and faculty critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza during last spring’s protests. Officials accused the protesters of supporting Hamas, the militant group behind the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
The administration also threatened to cut federal funding permanently unless Columbia made several changes. These included revising its admissions process, placing the university’s Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under external oversight, banning mask-wearing on campus, and revising its approach to recruiting international students.
Visa revocations and arrests of key individuals
The controversy at Columbia grew after the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who led last spring’s protests. The Trump administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, a Columbia doctoral student from India, for allegedly advocating violence. Srinivasan voluntarily left the US after the revocation, though officials did not provide evidence against her.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman arrested in Newark, faces charges for failing to leave the US after her visa expired. Columbia stated that they had no record of Kordia ever being a student. However, there were several protests and arrests outside the campus around that time. Kordia’s student visa was terminated in 2022 due to a lack of attendance. She is now held in an immigration detention centre in Texas.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that more student visas could be revoked in the coming days as part of the ongoing investigation.
