College students stage a walkout protest at Columbia College to sentence the presence of ICE brokers on campus and name for the discharge of Mahmoud Khalil.
Photograph: Dana Edwards/Reuters
On Friday, the Division of Homeland Safety introduced it has arrested a second Columbia College pupil as a part of the Trump administration’s long-promised crackdown on faculty protests towards the struggle in Gaza. The transfer comes simply days after federal brokers arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate pupil on the college and a green-card holder who led protests there final yr.
In a press launch, the DHS stated Leqaa Kordia was arrested for overstaying her pupil visa. The company stated her visa had been terminated in January 2022 for “lack of attendance.” The DHS stated Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Financial institution, had beforehand been arrested final April for collaborating in Gaza protests on Columbia’s campus.
The company additionally stated one other Columbia pupil, Ranjani Srinivasan, self-deported. Based on the DHS, Srinivasan, an Indian nationwide, entered the U.S. on a pupil visa to attend Columbia as a doctoral pupil finding out city planning however had her visa revoked this month. The company additionally launched a video it claims exhibits Srinivasan utilizing the Customs and Border Safety House app to self-deport.
Echoing the rhetoric of President Donald Trump, the DHS claims with out proof that the 2 college students arrested have been supporters of Hamas, at one level misspelling the group’s title as “Hammas” within the press launch. “It’s a privilege to be granted a visa to stay and research in the USA of America. If you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege ought to be revoked, and also you shouldn’t be on this nation. I’m glad to see one of many Columbia College terrorist sympathizers use the CBP House app to self-deport,” Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem stated in a press release.
On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that this spherical of student-visa revocations won’t be the final. “Within the days to come back, it is best to count on extra visas might be revoked as we establish those who we must always have by no means allowed in,” he stated, in response to Reuters.
As Trump has moved to quell faculty protests since taking workplace, his administration has continued to escalate its actions towards Columbia. On Thursday, Katrina Armstrong, the college’s interim president, stated DHS brokers with judicially permitted warrants had searched two pupil residences on campus. “Nobody was arrested or detained. No objects have been eliminated, and no additional motion was taken,” she stated.
Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche indicated Friday that the searches have been a part of an investigation into whether or not Columbia was hiding college students who have been within the nation unlawfully. “Simply final night time, we labored with the Division of Homeland Safety to execute search warrants from an investigation into Columbia College for harboring and concealing unlawful aliens on its campus,” Blanche stated, per the Related Press. “That investigation is ongoing, and we’re additionally taking a look at whether or not Columbia’s dealing with of earlier incidents violated civil rights legal guidelines and included terrorism crimes.”
Final week, the federal authorities introduced it could be revoking $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia, alleging the college has failed to deal with antisemitism on its campus. The administration then laid out extra steps for Columbia to doubtlessly get these funds again, calling for enforcement of its disciplinary insurance policies, a masks ban, and instantly putting its Center East, South Asian, and African Research Division underneath educational receivership.
