Judge pauses US bid to detain Columbia student Yunseo Chung for deportation
Authorities are seeking to detain the green card holder under the same powers they used to target pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil
A judge ordered US authorities on Tuesday to cease efforts to detain and deport a New York college student, as US President Donald Trump presses his campaign against pupils linked to pro-Palestinian protests.
Trump has targeted New York’s Columbia University, where the student is enrolled, as an epicentre of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.
Critics argue that the Trump administration’s campaign is retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.
Authorities had sought to detain Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old South Korean citizen and permanent resident of the United States, under the same powers they used to arrest and hold Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil pending deportation.
In both cases, authorities argue the students undermined US foreign policy through their actions, a charge which allows the Secretary of State to deport foreigners.
Chung, whom officers reportedly have been unable to find, sued the US government on Monday, arguing that “immigration enforcement – here, immigration detention and threatened deportation – may not be used as a tool to punish non-citizen speakers who express political views disfavoured by the current administration”.