Feds Arrest Leqaa Kordia, Second Columbia Gaza Protester

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 school 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 12 months.

In a press launch, the DHS mentioned Leqaa Kordia was arrested for overstaying her pupil visa. The company mentioned her visa had been terminated in January 2022 for “lack of attendance.” The DHS mentioned 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 mentioned one other Columbia pupil, Ranjani Srinivasan, self-deported. In keeping with 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 reveals 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 had 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 dwell and research in the US 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 mentioned in an announcement.

On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that this spherical of student-visa revocations is not going to be the final. “Within the days to come back, you must count on extra visas will likely be revoked as we determine people who we should always have by no means allowed in,” he mentioned, in line with Reuters.

As Trump has moved to quell school protests since taking workplace, his administration has continued to escalate its actions towards Columbia. On Thursday, Katrina Armstrong, the college’s interim president, mentioned DHS brokers with judicially authorized warrants had searched two pupil residences on campus. “Nobody was arrested or detained. No objects had been eliminated, and no additional motion was taken,” she mentioned.

Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche indicated Friday that the searches had been a part of an investigation into whether or not Columbia was hiding college students who had 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 mentioned, 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 might be revoking $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia, alleging the college has failed to handle antisemitism on its campus. The administration then laid out further 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 beneath tutorial receivership.