Columbia student protester can't be detained for now as she fights deportation, judge rules
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A Columbia University student who faces potential deportation for her involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest cannot be detained by immigration officials for now as she fights the Trump administration in court, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said in Manhattan court that the government had not laid out enough facts about its claims against Yunseo Chung.
"The court today did the right thing, did the sensible thing that the just and fair thing of granting her that protection and blocking ICE's attempts to detain her and deport her pending further order of the court," said Chung's attorney Ramzi Kassem.
Chung, a 21-year-old legal permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. since she moved from South Korea at age 7, sued the Trump administration on Monday.
She said federal agents were after her when they showed up at a residence on West 113 Street earlier this month.
Chung participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and accused Trump and other officials of "attempting to use immigration enforcement as a bludgeon to suppress speech that they dislike, including Ms. Chung's speech."
Since Chung participated in a March 5 sit-in inside and a demonstration outside an academic building at Barnard College, the feds have searched her dorm, showed up at her parents' house and revoked her status as a legal permanent resident, according to her lawsuit.
"The prospect of imminent detention, to be followed by deportation proceedings, has chilled her speech. Ms. Chung is now concerned about speaking up about the ongoing ordeal of Palestinians in Gaza as well as what is happening on her own campus: the targeting of her fellow students by the federal government, the arbitrary disciplinary process she and others are undergoing, and the failure of the university to protect noncitizen students," the lawsuit said. "If Ms. Chung is detained and deported, she will be indefinitely separated from her family and community. Ms. Chung's parents reside in the continental United States, and her sister is set to start college in the United States in the fall."
The Trump administration argued her presence poses risks to foreign policy and to halting the spread of antisemitism, the same rationale the administration invoked for the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement who is separately fighting his detention by the Trump administration.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said, "Chung engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College."
During a brief hearing on Tuesday, Judge Buchwald said Chung is not a danger to the community or a flight risk.
Oral arguments are set for May 20.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in New York was set to hear arguments Tuesday over whether to extend an order that prevents Columbia University from the sharing student disciplinary records of a number of pro-Palestinian activists with a House of Representatives committee.
The request for an injunction was filed by a group of Columbia students and graduates, including Khalil.
Khalil and the others said the Republican-controlled committee's request for their records violates the First Amendment and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and made Columbia "feel pressure to cooperate with the government in its efforts to chill and punish protected speech."
Judge Aruba Subramanian has temporarily blocked Columbia from disclosing the student records and will hear arguments over whether to permanently block sharing of the records or allow the school to cooperate with the committee.
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Some information from ABC News and the Associated Press
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