Woman who protested at Columbia University arrested for immigration violations as another self-deports, DHS says
The Department of Homeland Security said a Columbia University student who had her student visa revoked self-deported.
Ranjani Srinivasan, a doctoral student in Urban Planning from India, had her visa revoked earlier this month for allegedly supporting Hamas. Authorities said she used the Customs and Border Patrol's app to self-deport when she left the country on March 11, bound for Canada.
Video released by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shows Srinivasan at LaGuardia Airport on Tuesday.
In addition, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian in the country on a student visa, was arrested for overstaying the visa, the DHS said. It was not clear where Kordia was a student, however Columbia University said it had no record of her being a student there.
DHS says Kordia's student visa ended in January 2022. She was arrested Thursday. DHS officials said she had previously been arrested by the NYPD for involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University in April of last year. Some of those protests took place near, but not on, Columbia's campus.
"It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self-deport," Noem said.
DHS agents search two Columbia residences
Columbia University says DHS agents carried out search warrants at two university residences late Thursday night. It was not clear which residences were searched.
The university's interim president, Katrina Armstrong, shared a statement with the school community, writing she was "heartbroken" by the search, adding no one was arrested or detained.
"I am writing heartbroken to inform you that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences tonight," the statement began. "No one was arrested or detained. No items were removed, and no further action was taken."
Armstrong said the agents had two search warrants signed by a federal judge to enter non-public areas of the university and search two student rooms.
"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," her statement continued. "Tonight, that threshold was met, and the University is obligated to comply with the law. Our University Public Safety was present at all times."
She added the school is committed to keeping students and faculty safe while upholding the law, and included information about additional counseling resources.
"I understand the immense stress our community is under," Armstrong wrote. "Despite the unprecedented challenges, 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. These are the principles we uphold and that guide us every day."
Tensions high after ICE detains activist Mahmoud Khalil
Meanwhile, the lawyers of Columbia graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil are now suing the federal government in hopes of obtaining his immediate release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
In a new legal filing Thursday, his attorneys raised disturbing allegations about his alleged treatment while in custody.
They say he was handcuffed and shackled as he was rushed from New York to Louisiana last weekend, making him feel "as though he was being kidnapped." They also say he was left to sleep in a bunker with no pillow and his request for a blanket was denied.
The lawsuit claims in part that the deputy secretary of DHS "did not dispute that Mr. Khalil had not broken any laws and instead asserted that he was 'agitating and supporting Hamas.'"
"Even though he's the first one who has been picked up by ICE, you know, he's genuinely fearful that what's happened to him will happen to others," attorney Amy Greer said.
Newly released video shows the moment ICE agents took Khalil into custody as his pregnant wife watched helplessly.
Friday, multiple rallies were held for Khalil in New York City. Students call the attempted deportation unprecedented.
"I think I speak for about half of the student body when I say we are genuinely, genuinely terrified," Columbia student Sebastian Javadpoor said. "Scared of retaliation. Not just the threat of suspension, the threat of expulsion, the threat of doxing by our fellow students. Also the threat of being falsely accused by other students of either being supportive of, for example, Netanyahu's government or being supportive of Hamas."
During a mayoral forum hosted by City University of New York, candidates sharply criticized the Trump administration, Columbia University and Mayor Eric Adams.
"This president is putting our Constitution in the shredder," Sen. Zellnor Myrie said.
"We have to ensure that every institution, starting with city government, stands up and starts to fight back," Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani said.
Meanwhile, the Student Workers of Columbia union is outraged after they say the university expelled and fired the president of UAW Local 2710 on the eve of contract negotiations. Students feel this, too, was a crackdown on free speech.
"The administration can claim all it likes that it did not cooperate with the authorities. But every day, they allow members of our community to dox, stalk and report Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students to shadowy government agencies," a protest speaker said.
The Trump administration is demanding big changes at Columbia before potentially restoring federal funding. In a letter to the school's interim president Thursday, the administration outlined "immediate next steps," including "enforce existing disciplinary policies," institute a "mask ban" and "formalize... a definition of antisemitism."
The school has one week to comply.
