A pro-Palestinian student protester at Columbia University, who is in the country on a green card visa, sued the Trump administration to stop federal immigration authorities from deporting her.
After the State Department revoked Yunseo Chung’s student visa and permanent residency status earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempted to arrest the South Korean activist on the grounds that she had engaged in “concerning conduct” during a “pro-Hamas” protest, per the lawsuit.
On Monday, Chung filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in response to ICE’s attempt to deport her. She argued that her conduct was protected as free speech and requested that the court bar the Trump administration from detaining her.
“ICE’s shocking actions against Ms. Chung form part of a larger pattern of attempted U.S. government repression of constitutionally protected protest activity and other forms of speech. The government’s repression has focused specifically on university students who speak out in solidarity with Palestinians and who are critical of the Israeli government’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza or the pro-Israeli policies of the U.S. government and other U.S. institutions,” the lawsuit reads.
Chung is a junior at Columbia University who has been in the country since she was seven years old.
The government’s attempt to remove her from the U.S. comes after she was arrested by New York police for her participation in a pro-Palestinian student protest a Columbia University affiliate where pamphlets written by Hamas state media were distributed.
The March 5 demonstration at Barnard College’s Milstein Center provoked outrage from the campus’s Jewish community, which posted videos and photos to social media of the Hamas paraphernalia distributed, including “photos of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who vowed to destroy the Jews and Israel, and of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who orchestrated the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”
ICE made repeated efforts this month to detain Chung at her personal residence and at Columbia. However, immigration officials were unable to locate the student, who remains in the U.S. at an unknown location, according to her lawyers.
ICE’s move follows similar efforts to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and green card holder born in Syria. The administration accuses him of “siding with [Hamas] terrorists” during pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, including a demonstration at Barnard College. Like Chung, he sued the administration on free speech grounds to block his deportation.
Chung’s federal lawsuit in Manhattan cites Khalil’s case and four others where the Trump administration has attempted to deport non-citizens for behavior it deems as supportive of Hamas.
“The government’s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny,” the lawsuit reads.
A senior press representative for the Department of Homeland Security pushed back against claims that Chung’s conduct is protected by the First Amendment.
“Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” the DHS spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
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The spokesperson said Chung would have an opportunity to present her case to an immigration judge.
“ICE HSI will investigate individuals engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization. Based on investigative findings, the Department of State may make a determination which may result in visa revocation or other action impacting the immigration status of an alien in the U.S. Upon the determination from the Department of State, ICE will take appropriate enforcement actions,” the DHS spokesperson said.
