Judge blocks Trump administration’s effort to deport Columbia student protester

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from detaining a Columbia University student and lawful permanent resident whom federal agents have targeted for deportation after she took part in an anti-Israel demonstration earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald’s preliminary injunction on Thursday blocks Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking 21-year-old Yunseo Chung into custody. Chung is originally from South Korea and has lived in the U.S. since she was seven years old.

ICE had attempted to arrest her in March but were unsuccessful and the court has now barred ICE from detaining her without prior approval.

Ramzi Kassem, co-director of CLEAR, a legal nonprofit at City University of New York that is representing Chung, praised the ruling. He is pictured outside court earlier this year. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg)

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If the government tries to detain Chung for any reason other than her potential deportation, it must give 72 hours’ notice to Chung’s lawyers and the court and allow the court time to determine if the detention attempt is a pretext for First Amendment retaliation.

The ruling also states that she remains free while her legal case proceeds.

Ramzi Kassem, co-director of CLEAR, a legal nonprofit at City University of New York that is representing Chung, praised the ruling.  

“This is a win not just for Yunseo and for the legions of people who stand up for Palestinians and oppose the daily atrocities in Gaza that our government underwrites, but also for freedom of speech and the rule of law in our country,” Kassem said in a statement, per the Washington Post.

It comes after the same judge in March ordered immigration officials to cease their efforts to arrest Chung.

The Trump administration has alleged that her participation in a protest poses a potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequence for the United States. 

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator holds a flag on the rooftop of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.  (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Chung’s attorneys say that the government’s pursuit of the Columbia student is an “unjustifiable assault on [the] First Amendment.” Chung sued the government earlier this year. 

The lawsuit states that Chung was a participant in the anti-Israel protests, not a leader, and was “one of a large group of college students” expressing “shared concerns” over the war in Gaza. Chung, according to the lawsuit, “visited” the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, a number of tents organized in the center of campus, but does not state whether she stayed there. The lawsuit also makes it clear that she did not make public statements or engage in high-profile activities while at the protests.

Chung’s lawsuit states that she was never arrested or disciplined in relation to events at the encampment. However, she was later arrested during a 2025 protest at Barnard College. The lawsuit claims that it is common in New York City for police to arrest many protesters and that charges are usually dropped or dismissed.

The Trump administration has also sought to deport former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, whom it accuses of playing a major role in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

The lawsuit states that on March 8, an ICE official signed an administrative arrest warrant for Chung and federal law enforcement went to Chung’s parents’ house the next day seeking to arrest her.

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An ICE official allegedly told Chung’s attorneys on March 10 that her green card had been “revoked,” according to the lawsuit. The government has the authority to rescind permanent resident status if it believes that a person has violated U.S. immigration law.

Chung’s attorneys say in the lawsuit that law enforcement searched Chung’s dorm room on March 13 in accordance with a warrant.

She was valedictorian of her high school senior class and has a near-perfect GPA heading into her senior year, according to court documents. Chung is double-majoring in English and women’s and gender studies at Columbia, the Washington Post reported. 

The Trump administration has also sought to deport former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, whom it accuses of playing a major role in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.