Judge Orders ICE to Stop Trying to Arrest 21-Year-Old Columbia Student
Homeland Security had sought to detain Yunseo Chung, a green-card holder originally from South Korea who has lived in the U.S. since she was a child
Updated March 25, 2025
The Trump administration is seeking to deport Chung because of her advocacy work, which includes attending protests and posting fliers on campus.
A federal judge ordered immigration authorities to stop their efforts to detain a Columbia University junior who participated in pro-Palestinian protests until further notice from the court.
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order, a day after Yunseo Chung sued the Trump administration to prevent her deportation. The judge, appointed by President Bill Clinton, scheduled a hearing for May 20.
The Department of Homeland Security issued an arrest warrant for the 21-year-old student on March 8, according to court records. Chung, a permanent resident, moved to the U.S. at age 7 from South Korea.
Her lawyers say she has broken no laws and the Trump administration is seeking to strip her green card because of her advocacy work.
“Simply put, immigration enforcement—here, immigration detention and threatened deportation—may not be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express political views disfavored by the current administration,” they wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security said it was seeking Chung’s deportation in line with immigration law. “Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” a spokesperson for the department said. Columbia declined to comment.
Columbia has become ground zero for the Trump administration’s campaign to dismantle what it calls antisemitism on campuses during pro-Palestinian protests. Federal agencies threatened to cancel roughly $400 million of Columbia’s funding before the school caved to its far-reaching demands.
Chung attended Columbia student demonstrations last year that criticized the Israel-Hamas war’s toll on civilians in Gaza. The university investigated her for vandalism for posting fliers on campus with pictures of the board of trustees and the words, “Wanted for Complicity in Genocide,” her lawyers said in court documents. The school determined she hadn’t violated any policies.
On March 5 this year, Chung went to a sit-in at sister college Barnard in support of students disciplined for their participation in advocacy events. The New York Police Department arrested Chung and released her with a desk appearance ticket for obstruction of governmental administration. The university temporarily suspended her a couple of days later.
Immigration agents appeared at Chung’s parents’ home on the evening of March 9, asking to speak with her.
She received a text message around the same time, according to court documents, that said, “Hi, Yunseo. This is Audrey from the police. My job is to reach out to you and see if you have any questions about your recent arrest and the process going forward. When are [sic] available for a phone call?”
Chung’s lawyer called the number, and Audrey identified herself as an agent with Homeland Security Investigations, part of ICE. She told Chung’s lawyer that there was an administrative warrant for Chung’s arrest and “due to the situation with the protesting, the State Department was at liberty to revoke” her legal permanent resident status.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone told Chung’s lawyer that the secretary of state had revoked her visa. When Chung’s lawyer explained that Chung had a green card and not a visa, Carbone said “the Secretary of State has revoked that,” too.
Earlier this month, immigration agents detained graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, another permanent resident and pro-Palestinian demonstrator, saying they were acting on orders by the State Department. Trump said Khalil’s arrest would be the first of many.
Homeland Security has cited a seldom-used provision of immigration law that allows the secretary of state to remove a green-card holder from the country if the secretary has reasonable grounds to believe that person’s presence or activities “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the U.S.
The targeting of student activists and Columbia leadership’s decision to cede to the Trump administration’s demands has sparked outrage and protests on the Ivy League university’s campus.
“It’s time for all of us—faculty, students, alumni, elected officials and the public—to lead the defense of universities,” Michael Thaddeus, a Columbia mathematics professor, said Monday at a protest.
Professors and faculty said the attack on Columbia threatens academic freedom and free thought.
“We know this has nothing to do with opposing antisemitism,” said Kimberly Phillips-Fein, a Columbia history professor. “We know that this is about control.”
Write to Jenna Telesca at jenna.telesca@wsj.com, Jennifer Calfas at jennifer.calfas@wsj.com and Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com
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Appeared in the January 1, 1, print edition as 'Judge Tells Authorities Not to Detain Columbia Student'.