Court rules student suing Trump administration not be detained for time being

A Columbia University student facing potential deportation for participating in pro-Palestinian protests has filed a lawsuit. On Tuesday, a court granted a temporary restraining order, preventing her detention or transfer outside of New York State.

Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, has resided in the U.S. since she was seven years old. Her legal team filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on Monday, seeking to immediately prevent her detention or transfer to a remote detention location outside the area. The motion aims to protect her from further action.

An emergency hearing was held in the Southern District Court of New York on Tuesday afternoon. The court heard arguments from her legal team and granted the temporary restraining order, which remains in effect pending further order from the court. This legal action is intended to halt the government's deportation proceedings against her.

The lawsuit and request for an emergency TRO stem from deportation efforts initiated by immigration officials due to Ms. Chung's participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Her legal team stated in court documents that she "is one of a large group of college students raising, expressing, and discussing shared concerns" and "did not occupy a high-profile role in these protests."

Ms. Chung was arrested by the New York Police Department on March 5 for participating in a sit-in at Columbia University's Barnard College, where she demanded the reinstatement of three students who had been suspended for participating in pro-Palestinian protests. She was issued a summons and released at the time for her involvement in the demonstration. Her legal team asserts that the deportation proceedings are "part of a larger pattern by the United States government to suppress constitutionally protected protest and other forms of speech."

On March 8, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials signed an arrest warrant for Ms. Chung. The following day, ICE agents appeared at her home looking for her. On March 10, a federal legal official told her legal team that her lawful permanent resident status was being "rescinded." Several days later, on March 13, federal law enforcement officers searched Ms. Chung's dorm room, seeking residency or lease agreements, as well as travel and immigration records.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated, "Yunseo Chung engaged in concerning behavior, including her arrest by the New York Police Department for participating in a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College. She is being sought for removal proceedings in accordance with immigration law. Ms. Chung will have the opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge." A Columbia University spokeswoman stated that they could not comment on the case. "Due to our FERPA obligations, we do not comment on individual students," the spokeswoman said.

A group representing Columbia University professors has sued the Trump administration over funding cuts and attempts to control the private university. The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers stated in the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, "This action challenges the Trump administration’s unlawful and unprecedented attempts to suppress academic autonomy at universities and control the thoughts, associations, scholarship, and expression of its faculty and students."

Some of the Trump administration's demands included tightening rules on campus protests and placing Middle East studies departments under external supervision. The Trump administration has already rescinded $400 million in federal funding and threatened to withhold billions more. "The Trump administration is coercing Columbia to act as it wishes and regulating speech and expression on campus by withholding billions of dollars in congressionally mandated federal funding—funding that is responsible for positioning the American university system as the global leader in scientific, medical, and technological research, and is essential to ensuring that it remains so," they said.

In a separate lawsuit involving Columbia University, organizers and supporters of pro-Palestinian demonstrations became the target of a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Monday. The lawsuit was filed by nine American and Israeli citizens who are victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. They include relatives of people who were murdered or taken hostage, two of whom are affiliated with Columbia University.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of acting as a "propaganda arm" and "public relations firm" for Hamas, which is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a negotiator between the university and the protesters, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Other defendants include Columbia University Students for Justice in Palestine, the Palestinian Solidarity Collective, Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace, and their leaders.

"It is illegal for Hamas to directly hire a PR firm in the United States or to employ law enforcement to impose its will on American cities," the complaint states. "Yet, that is precisely the service that [the defendant groups] knowingly provide to Hamas," the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating U.S. anti-terrorism laws and international law, and seeks compensatory, punitive, and treble damages.