Agents from the Department of Homeland Security conducted searches in two Columbia University students’ rooms on Thursday night, marking the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s crackdown on some American universities.
Also marking that escalation: Todd Blanche, the US deputy attorney general, said on Friday that the federal justice department would examine whether last year’s student protests at Columbia over Israel’s military strikes on Gaza violated terrorism laws. Blanche also said the justice department would examine whether Columbia’s handling of the demonstrations violated civil rights law as Donald Trump’s White House follows through on its self-stated “mission to end antisemitism in this country”.
The university’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, addressed the school community in a statement, saying she was “heartbroken” to inform them that “there were federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences” on Thursday night.
Armstrong confirmed that no arrests were made, no items were removed and no further action was taken at the private Ivy League college in New York.
Armstrong explained that the DHS had served Columbia University with two judicial search warrants, signed by a federal magistrate judge, which authorized the agents to enter non-public areas of the university and conduct the searches.
The university, she said, “is obligated to comply with the law” but added that the university’s public safety team was present at all times during the search.
Meanwhile, it was revealed on Friday afternoon that the Trump administration revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student, on 5 March for, the government said, “advocating for violence and terrorism”. On Tuesday, Srinivasan opted to “self-deport”, the DHS announced. No further details of the government’s allegations were disclosed. Last week the state department reportedly was to begin using artificial intelligence (AI) to hunt for students it deemed to support Hamas, according to Axios.
The DHS said that immigration officials had arrested a second person who participated in spring pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, following last weekend’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, was arrested for overstaying her student visa, the DHS said. Kordia’s visa was terminated in January 2022 for “lack of attendance”, the department said, adding that Kordia was previously arrested for her involvement in protests at Columbia in April 2024. The direct circumstances of her arrest were not immediately known.
Armstrong earlier on Friday said that Columbia was committed to ensuring that the “campus, students, faculty, and staff are safe” and said the school was “committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same”.
“I understand the immense stress our community is under,” she said. “Despite the unprecedented challenges, Columbia University will remain a place where the pursuit of knowledge is cherished and fiercely protected, where the rule of law and due process is respected and never taken for granted, and where all members of our community are valued and able to thrive. These are the principles we uphold and that guide us every day.”
However, Thursday’s DHS search on campus occurred just days after federal immigration authorities arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and recent Columbia master’s graduate, who played a prominent role in the school’s pro-Palestinian protests last spring.
The search on Thursday night also came just hours after the Trump administration sent a letter to Columbia outlining changes it wants the university to meet before it will discuss lifting last week’s cancellation of $400m in federal funding to the school.
The demands include abolishing the university judicial board, an internal disciplinary body; formalizing the college’s definition of antisemitism; banning masks “intended to conceal identity or intimidate” on campus, often used by protesters; and granting full law enforcement authority to public safety officers. The letter also demands the placement of Columbia’s Middle East, south Asian and African studies department under academic receivership (when a department or program is taken over by outside administrators) for at least five years.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, condemned the letter in a statement: “The subjugation of universities to official power is a hallmark of autocracy. No one should be under any illusions about what’s going on here.”
Alex Abdo, the institute’s litigation director, called the letter an “assault on the very foundation of higher education” and a violation of first amendment rights.
Earlier on Thursday, Columbia University took disciplinary action against students involved in the pro-Palestinian protests there last spring and who occupied Hamilton Hall, a campus building.
The school said its judicial board – which is composed of students, faculty and staff selected by the university senate – determined “findings and issued sanctions to students ranging from multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions related to the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring”.
Names and the number of students suspended or expelled were not disclosed due to privacy laws.
Columbia University is also facing a federal lawsuit following the arrest of the prominent Palestinian activist Khalil.
The lawsuit, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations on behalf of Khalil and others against the school and the congressional committee on education and workforce, claims the university agreed to disclose thousands of private student records at the request of Congress.
The escalations at Columbia University come as the US education department’s civil rights office wrote to 60 universities on Monday warning them of potential “enforcement actions” over allegations of antisemitic harassment as well as discrimination on their campuses. On Friday, the same department announced it was investigating 45 universities for allegedly engaging in “race-exclusionary practices”.
Over the last few weeks, many universities have announced hiring freezes in response to uncertainty surrounding the current administration and potential funding cuts.
Johns Hopkins University also announced this week plans to cut more than 2,000 jobs after the Trump administration slashed $800m in grants.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
