A federal judge in Manhattan blocked immigration officials from detaining Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student and legal permanent resident the Trump administration is trying to deport for taking part in Gaza solidarity protests.
The 21-year-old green card holder, who has lived in the US since she was seven years old, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, arguing the government is “attempting to use immigration enforcement as a bludgeon to suppress speech that they dislike”.
The US district judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said in court that the government had not laid out enough facts about its claims against Chung, who is originally from South Korea. Buchwald granted the temporary restraining order Chung had requested, which also prohibits the government from moving her outside the jurisdiction of the southern district of New York.
The ruling comes as the Trump administration has been aggressively targeting pro-Palestinian college protesters across the US and cutting funds or threatening to revoke grants from universities it claims are failing to prevent antisemitism.
The efforts to deport green card holders have sparked widespread backlash from civil liberties and immigrant rights groups. The US is also fighting to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and recent Columbia graduate who has not been accused of a crime. Khalil was arrested at his Columbia-owned building in New York, in front of his pregnant wife, and later transferred to detention in Louisiana.
In ordering the US not to transfer Chung out of the district, Buchwald said: “No trips to Louisiana here.”
Chung’s lawsuit alleged that immigration officials moved to deport her “from the only country she has ever known” after she was identified in news reports as part of a group of protesters arrested after a sit-in at a library on the campus of Barnard College, affiliated with Columbia.
Chung was given a ticket for “obstruction of governmental administration”, a common protest citation, according to her suit, filed by Clear, a clinic at the City University of New York law school. But days later, the US government “began a series of unlawful efforts to arrest, detain, and remove Ms. Chung from the country –because of her protected speech”, her lawyers alleged.
On 9 March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) showed up to Chung’s parents’ home, and the following day, a US law enforcement official advised her lawyer that her lawful permanent resident status was being revoked. US agents also executed search warrants at two residences on Columbia’s campus, including her dormitory, seeking documents related to Chung, despite the warrant targeting the institution, not Chung directly, according to the complaint.
“Officials at the highest echelons of government are attempting to use immigration enforcement as a bludgeon to suppress speech that they dislike, including Ms Chung’s speech,” the suit said.
Chung “felt moved to join efforts to advocate for Palestinian human rights” and visited the Gaza solidarity encampment for discussions and events, but did not make public statements, serve as a liaison between protesters and the university or assume any high-profile role, her lawyers said. She is a junior at Columbia who has participated in the campus literary magazine, undergraduate law journal and was valedictorian of her high school.
Jordan Wells, senior attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is also representing Chung, praised the ruling, saying in a statement, “May the day never come when the secretary of state is allowed to single out a college student for banishment from the United States because of political protest. At the very least, we are relieved on behalf of our client that day is not today.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Monday that Chung had “engaged in concerning conduct”, including being arrested at a protest.
DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment after the Tuesday ruling.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration canceled $400m in grants to Columbia, saying the university failed to protect students from antisemitism even though the institution last year suspended pro-Palestinian student groups and facilitated arrests.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
