A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday preventing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from detaining a Columbia University student who is challenging the Trump administration's efforts to put her into deportation proceedings.
“Nothing in the record has indicated in any way that she is a danger,” Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said from the bench in barring ICE from taking the student, Yunseo Chung, 21, into custody while her lawsuit against the Trump administration proceeds.
Chung filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, after ICE sought to arrest her at her parents' residence and her Columbia dorm room earlier this month, contending that her status as a permanent U.S. resident had been revoked.
Chung is the latest of several pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia and other universities who have been targeted by ICE for deportation. Her lawsuit in U.S. District Court follows the high-profile ICE arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident currently detained in Louisiana.
Khalil became known as a public face of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, as he spoke to the press and was a key negotiator with university leaders.
By contrast, Chung never spoke to the press, organized rallies, or took on a leadership role, her attorneys said. They say Chung’s case demonstrates that the Trump administration is targeting even minor players in pro-Palestinian protests for immigration enforcement.
In an email to Gothamist, a senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Chung has “engaged in concerning conduct,” acknowledged she is being sought for “removal proceedings,” and cited her arrest by the NYPD during a “pro-Hamas” protest at Barnard College.
Ramzi Kassem, one of Chung’s attorneys, celebrated the judge’s decision in a brief press conference outside the federal courthouse.
“As of today, Yunseo no longer has to live in fear of ICE coming to her doorstep,” said Kassem, also a professor at CUNY Law School, and co-director of CUNY’s CLEAR (Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility) project.
Kassem said in court that Chung is keeping up with her coursework and hopes to finish the school semester, the end of her junior year.
The temporary restraining order also prevents the federal government from transferring Chung to another court jurisdiction. Khalil was transferred from a Newark ICE detention center to Louisiana shortly after he was arrested.
“No trips to Louisiana, here,” Buchwald said.
