On Friday, March 14, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that immigration officials had arrested a second pro-Palestinian protester at Columbia University and revoked the visa of another student.
Columbia University has had an influx of pro-Palestinian protests that have been largely exacerbated following the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student who was arrested on March 8 and is now being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while facing potential deportation.
Khalil was arrested just one day after the Trump administration cut $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over what it described as illegal protests promoting antisemitism amidst the ongoing Israel and Palestinian conflict. Trump’s Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism contains the means for why international students are being detained, arrested and deported.
“It shall be the policy of the United States to combat antisemitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence,” section two of the executive order states.
Columbia established a disciplinary committee that will perform investigations on students protesting against Israel, yet the federal government did not find this satisfactory enough.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) established a joint task force to combat antisemitism, notifying the Interim President Katrina Armstrong of Columbia University, that it would review the university’s contracts and grants, reviewing its eligibility for over $5 billion in federal grants.
One day before the second arrest, Armstrong gave an update on the current situation in regard to student protesting and the DHS involvement on campus. Two judicial search warrants were approved by a federal magistrate judge that permitted DHS to access private areas of the university and search two student rooms.
Armstrong acknowledged the legal actions that were taken while also trying to decrease anxiety over the unprecedented challenges the students and the university are facing.
“The University has a clear protocol in place. Consistent with this protocol, our longstanding practice and the practices of cities and institutions throughout the country, the University requires that law enforcement have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including residential University buildings. Tonight, that threshold was met, and the University is obligated to comply with the law … Columbia University will remain a place where the pursuit of knowledge is cherished and fiercely protected, where the rule of law and due process is respected and never taken for granted, and where all members of our community are valued and able to thrive,” Armstrong said.
Secretary of the Department of Education Linda McMahon met with Armstrong, expressing on X that she, “Had a productive meeting with Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong today. Look forward to working together to protect all students on their campus.”
McMahon has previously expressed her views in regard to the immense anti-Israel protest demonstrations that have taken place throughout the U.S.
“Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation and antisemitic harassment on their campuses — only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them … Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding,” McMahon said.
The situation in Columbia continues to raise questions of the legality concerning the Trump administration’s actions.
