Two Columbia University dorm rooms were searched by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday night, after the school was presented with two warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge allowing them access to non-public areas. Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, stated in an announcement to school that she was “heartbroken” by the occurrence, but that the school was “obligated” by law to comply with the warrant, and that officers from University Public Safety were present at all times.
Having a judicial warrant means that DHS presented evidence to a judge that the search was necessary in relation to a crime, and that the judge signed off on that assessment. No items were removed during the search, no one was arrested or detained, and no further action was taken, according to Armstrong’s statement. DHS has yet to make any public statement explaining the reason for the searches.
On Friday, DHS announced that a Palestinian student who had attended the Ivy League school, Leqaa Korda, had been arrested after allegedly overstaying an F-1 student visa that expired on January 22nd, 2022 due to lack of course attendance. According to the same announcement, another Columbia student – Ranjani Srinivasan, who was pursuing a doctoral degree in urban planning – had her visa revoked by the Department of State for “supporting Hammas” in pro-Palestine protests last spring, and self-deported using the CBP Home App.
Last Saturday, Columbia grad Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE officers as he entered in his university-owned apartment. The Palestinian Khalil, who has a green card and is married to an American citizen, is being held in Louisiana as his deportation is being challenged in a New York federal court. A Columbia University spokesperson reaffirmed the school’s policy at the time that a warrant is required for law enforcement to search university property, but would not say if the school had received one for Khalil from DHS. Amy Greer, his attorney, claimed in a brief filed in federal court that the ICE agent arresting Khalil hung up on her when she asked him to present the administrative warrant he claimed to possess to her, Khalil, or his wife.
The searches and deportations are part of an overall escalation from the Trump administration against pro-Palestine sentiment on college campuses broadly, and Columbia in particular. Donald Trump recently revoked $400 million in federal funding for the university, alleging that the school failed to protect Jewish students on campus, and the Department of Education has sent letters to 60 universities across the country, warning them that they are under investigation and can expect potential enforcement action “if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.”
