Columbia University student, 21, arrested during anti-Israel protest faces deportation by Trump admin
A Columbia University junior who was arrested earlier this month during an anti-Israel protest and is now facing deportation sued President Trump and other high-ranking officials Monday to stop the feds from throwing her out of the country.
Immigration authorities are attempting to deport 21-year-old Yunseo Chung — who moved to the United States from South Korea nearly 15 years ago with her family — at a time when the Trump administration has said it wants to boot non-citizens who officials deem a threat to foreign policy.
Chung, who is a legal permanent resident and has called the US home since she was 7 years old, was not in federal custody as of Monday. Her lawyer would not tell the New York Times where she currently was other than to confirm she was still in the country.
The college student apparently landed on the feds’ radar after she and other students were arrested on March 5 during a sit-in at a Barnard academic building in protest of punishments the Columbia-affiliated college doled out to anti-Israel agitators.
She was charged with obstructing governmental administration and issued a desk appearance ticket by the NYPD.
A few days later Department of Homeland Security agents visited Chung’s parents’ home searching for her as a federal agent reached out to the student around the same time via text message, according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.
When an attorney representing Chung contacted the agent, she was told the State Department was revoking Chung’s legal status and had an administrative warrant for her arrest, the legal papers state.
The lawsuit also revealed her dorm was among two Columbia-owned residences raided by federal law enforcement on March 13 – which interim school President Katrina Armstrong said at the time she was “heartbroken” by.
Chung’s legal team argued the actions by the Trump administration were an attempt to “chill” her free speech.
“The government’s retaliation against Ms. Chung comes in a broader context of retaliation against other noncitizens who have exercised their First Amendment rights,” her legal team argued.
“Officials at the highest levels of the federal government have made clear that they intend to use immigration enforcement to punish noncitizens who speak out in support of Palestinians and Palestinian rights, or who are perceived to have engaged in such speech.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Times Chung “engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College. She is being sought for removal proceedings under the immigration laws.”
A small handful of anti-Israel demonstrators have faced possible deportation – most notably former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil who was front and center during tense protests last year at the elite school.
Khalil, who arrived in the US in 2022 to pursue a master’s degree, initially had a student visa before he became a permanent resident two years later.
He was taken into custody on March 8 and is currently detained at a Louisiana facility as his lawyers and the federal government clash over his future in the country.
Chung faced a school disciplinary proceeding last year after she plastered posters that stated Columbia Board of Trustees were “Wanted for Complicity in Genocide,” but the school ultimately found she did not violate any rules.
The lawsuit, which also lists Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump officials, calls on a judge to scrap the government’s deportation of Chung and protect her from arrest in the meantime.
The Post has sought comment from the State Department, Attorney General’s Office and Department of Homeland Security.
