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The Justice Department is investigating whether Columbia University hid students sought by the US

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  vic-eldred  •  11 hours ago  •  14 comments

The Justice Department is investigating whether Columbia University hid students sought by the US
“Just last night, we worked with the Department of Homeland Security to execute search warrants from an investigation into Columbia University for harboring and concealing illegal aliens on its campus,” Blanche said. “That investigation is ongoing, and we are also looking at whether Columbia’s handling of earlier incidents violated civil rights laws and included terrorism crimes.”

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T


NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Columbia University concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus, one of its top officials said Friday, as the Trump administration intensified its campaign to deport foreigners who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school last year.

Agents with the Department of Homeland Security searched two university residences with a warrant Thursday evening. No one was arrested, and it was unclear whom the authorities were searching for. But by Friday afternoon, U.S. officials had announced developments related to two people they had pursued in connection with the demonstrations.

A Columbia doctoral student from India whose visa was revoked by the Trump administration fled the U.S. on an airliner. And a Palestinian woman who had been arrested during the protests at the university last April was arrested by federal immigration authorities in Newark, New Jersey, on charges that she overstayed an expired visa.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking at the Justice Department, said it was all part of the president’s “mission to end antisemitism in this country.”

“Just last night, we worked with the Department of Homeland Security to execute search warrants from an investigation into Columbia University for harboring and concealing illegal aliens on its campus,” Blanche said. “That investigation is ongoing, and we are also looking at whether Columbia’s handling of earlier incidents violated civil rights laws and included terrorism crimes.”





Blanche didn’t say what evidence agents had of wrongdoing by the university. It was unclear whether he was accusing the school itself of “terrorism crimes” or saying that people involved in the protests had committed such crimes.





The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from the university about Blanche’s accusations Friday.

n a note to the school community following the searches Thursday night, interim university president Katrina Armstrong said Columbia was “committed to upholding the law.” She described herself as “heartbroken” that federal agents had been on campus searching student rooms.

“I understand the immense stress our community is under,” Armstrong wrote. “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.”

Columbia has come under immense pressure from the Trump administration in recent weeks, with the U.S. government canceling $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the school, much of it for medical research, as punishment for not cracking down harder on students and faculty who criticized Israel’s military action in Gaza during large protests last spring.

President Donald Trump and other officials have accused the protesters as being “pro-Hamas,” referring to the militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The administration threatened to permanently end federal funding to the Ivy League school unless it took a variety of steps, including changing its admissions process and ceding faculty control of its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department to a receiver for five years.

It also demanded that the school ban people from wearing masks on campus, change how it recruits international students, adopt a new definition of antisemitism, and abolish its  student disciplinary process .

Students and faculty who participated in last year’s protests at Columbia have insisted that criticizing Israel and advocating for Palestinian rights isn’t antisemitic. Some Jewish students and faculty, though, complained that the anti-Israel rhetoric made them feel unsafe.

Columbia University’s campus has been in crisis since the arrest Saturday of  Mahmoud Khalil,  a  Palestinian activist  who helped lead last spring’s protests.

The Trump administration said Friday it had revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student at Columbia, for “advocating for violence and terrorism.” Srinivasan opted to  “self-deport”  Tuesday, the department said. Officials didn’t say what evidence they had that Srinivasan had advocated violence.

Her lawyers denied the accusations, and she  told The New York Times  that she wasn’t involved in organizing any Columbia protests.

According to the newspaper, the Department of Homeland Security said Srinivasan didn’t disclose two protest-related summonses on her visa renewal application last year.

Srinivasan told the newspaper she had received the summonses — for allegedly refusing to disperse and obstructing foot or vehicle traffic — after simply getting caught up in a crowd of protesters while trying to return to her apartment from a picnic last year. She said she left the summonses off her renewal form because her case had been dismissed.

The woman who was arrested in Newark, Leqaa Kordia, was charged with failing to leave the U.S. after her visa expired. Columbia said it had no record of Kordia ever being a student there or being arrested on the campus. However, there were numerous protests and arrests in the streets outside of the university at the same time.


Kordia had previously received a student visa, but it was terminated in 2022 for “lack of attendance,” the department said. She is being held in an immigration detention center in Alvarado, Texas, according to a government database.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday the Trump administration is expecting to revoke more student visas in the coming days.



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Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Vic Eldred    11 hours ago
LA MALBAIE, Canada, March 14 (Reuters) - The United States will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday, following the arrest and detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, whom the Trump administration aims to deport over his pro-Palestinian activism.

"In the days to come, you should expect more visas will be revoked as we identify people that we should have never allowed in," Rubio told reporters following a meeting of G7 foreign ministers.

Rubio says US to revoke more student visas in coming days | Reuters
 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
1.1  Sean Treacy  replied to  Vic Eldred @1    10 hours ago

Studying here is a privilege 

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Sean Treacy @1.1    9 hours ago

Studying in Canada is a benefit.

 
 
 
Sean Treacy
Professor Principal
1.1.2  Sean Treacy  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @1.1.1    9 hours ago

I'm sure  its  very nice for those who can't get in American universities

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Expert
1.1.3  Sparty On  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @1.1.1    7 hours ago

Have a lot of pro Hamas demonstrations in Canada do you?

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1.4  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Sparty On @1.1.3    7 hours ago

Antisemitism increased all over the world.  The Iranian-taught Hamas propaganda technique has worked well everywhere.  

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1.5  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Sean Treacy @1.1.2    7 hours ago

My comment did not put American universities down.  Both my kids got their Master's degrees (my daughter got two Master's degrees) at  American universities, and it prepared them to now have very successful careers.  

 
 
 
Sparty On
Professor Expert
1.1.6  Sparty On  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @1.1.4    6 hours ago

So the answer is yes then?

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1.7  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Sparty On @1.1.6    6 hours ago

As I've said, antisemitism has increased everywhere so of course that includes Canada, but I don't know how much, I only read about it.  Don't bother asking me any more questions about it because I think you're as capable of searching the internet as I am. 

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
1.1.8  seeder  Vic Eldred  replied to  Sean Treacy @1.1    an hour ago

That seems to be Rubio's point.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Vic Eldred @1    9 hours ago
"LA MALBAIE, Canada, March 14 (Reuters)"

Is there a reason this American story about America required a Canadian source?

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
1.2.1  seeder  Vic Eldred  replied to  Buzz of the Orient @1.2    an hour ago

Reuters must have a Canadian affiliate.

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.2.2  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  Vic Eldred @1.2.1    46 minutes ago

What's kind of strange is that La Malbaie is an out-of-the-way resort area, not Montreal or Quebec City.

 
 
 
freepress
Freshman Silent
2  freepress    9 hours ago

I wonder why they aren't going after employers who employ illegal immigrants for the cheap labor?

One student who left the country out of fear who was here legally  had the misfortune to be caught in the crowd crossing campus and was not a protester. She was sympathetic but was not a criminal or an instigator.

You have to question why they are not raiding meat packing plants, big agriculture operations, construction crews across all border states, oil rig operations in Texas. In fact why aren't they checking on the hired staff for politicians? Senators lawn care crews, maids, maintenance staff?

They are targeting perceived "left leaning" institutions first, following an already made up narrative to stoke fear hoping there will be no push back.

Unless DOGE restores funding for immigration departments and courts they really have no intention of following the Constitution or the law. 

The scary part is unless it is proven what the status of every individual rounded up happens to be, a Republican politician with a personal grudge can have Homan and crew illegally deport an American citizen because he doesn't want his daughter dating the person.

The open door for abuse is clear. You need immigration courts to judge and deport based on facts. 

Not cattle roundups with no list of names, no court records of crimes, and no court determination of actual status or true documents.

 
 

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