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 21-year-old lawful permanent resident who came to the U.S. as a child filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday, arguing the government is “attempting to use immigration enforcement as a bludgeon to suppress speech that they dislike.”
In a statement Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said she had “engaged in concerning conduct,” including being arrested at a protest.
Chung's suit said immigration officials moved to deport her after she was identified in news reports as one of several protesters arrested after a sit-in at a library on the nearby Barnard College campus this month.
Days later, officials told her lawyer that her permanent resident status was being revoked. Agents came looking for her at her parents’ home and also executed a search warrant at her Columbia dormitory, according to the suit.
Chung has lived in the U.S. since emigrating from South Korea with her parents at age 7, according to her lawsuit.
The Columbia junior's lawsuit cites the administration's efforts to deport other students who participated in protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza. They include fellow Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil and Momodou Taal of Cornell University, who received a notice last week to surrender to immigration authorities after he sued on March 15 to preempt deportation efforts.
