Homeland Security agents arrest another pro-Palestinian protester from Columbia University

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the arrest of a second student involved in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, as part of a broader crackdown on student activists.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Leqaa Korda, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, for allegedly overstaying her visa.

Her arrest follows that of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian green card holder, who was taken into custody earlier last weekend.

DHS stated that Korda had been arrested in 2024 in connection with her participation in similar protests.

DHS also shared footage of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student at Columbia, leaving the country on Tuesday.

According to DHS, Srinivasan’s student visa was revoked by the State Department last week after she was accused of supporting Hamas.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has labeled pro-Palestinian students at Columbia as “terrorist sympathizers” and accused them of advocating “violence and terrorism.”

Federal agents also conducted searches of two Columbia University student residences on Thursday night.

"We had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two university residences tonight," Columbia President Katrina Armstrong confirmed in a statement.

Pro-Palestine activism reignites on US campuses after Trump orders student’s arrest

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student-activist, has become a powerful symbol of pro-Palestinian activism on US campuses after his arrest on the orders of Trump.

The latest arrests and deportations come as part of the US President Donald Trump administration’s intensified crackdown on what it describes as individuals espousing Hamas-aligned views.

Trump previously praised the arrest of Khalil, vowing it would be the “first of many to come.”

Later, the Trump administration announced that it had canceled grants and contracts worth approximately $400 million allocated to Columbia University.

Trump’s remarks signaled a hardline stance against pro-Palestinian activism on US campuses, criminalizing student advocacy work.

Following Khalil's arrest, Trump referred to him as a “radical foreign pro-Hamas student” and made clear his administration’s zero-tolerance policy for pro-Palestinian demonstrations at American universities.

“We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity,” Trump wrote in a post on Social Truth.

Trump's comments have drawn criticism from legal experts and civil rights activists, who questioned the legality of publicly accusing individuals of crimes without due process.

Critics have stated that the administration’s rhetoric—framing pro-Palestinian advocacy as “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American”—suggests a broader crackdown that could conflate support for Palestinian rights with extremism.

Wife of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil says he is ‘fighting for his people’

The spouse of Mahmoud Khalil says her husband is Palestinian and is standing up for his people.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, the spouse of Khalil said that her husband was standing up for his people.

Noor Abdalla, a US citizen and a practicing dentist said that her husband's focus was on supporting his community through advocacy and in more direct ways.

"Mahmoud is Palestinian and he's always been interested in Palestinian politics," she said, adding, "He's standing up for his people, he's fighting for his people."

On Thursday, Khalil and seven current students at the university asked a federal court to block the school from producing student disciplinary records to a House committee that demanded them last month.

The committee’s request and the school’s compliance with it would violate the First Amendment rights of Khalil and the students and the university’s obligation to protect student privacy, the lawsuit said.

The seven current students also asked the court to allow them to proceed anonymously and are referred to in the lawsuit with pseudonyms.

Student-led pro-Palestinian activism across US universities culminated in April 2024, when Columbia University's Hamilton Hall became the center of major protests.

The demonstrations began on April 17, when pro-Palestinian students established the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the university's East Butler Lawn, setting up approximately 50 tents.

Protesters barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall, raising banners and a Palestinian flag, while demanding that the university divest from companies linked to the Israeli regime and adopt greater financial transparency.

After negotiations between student organizers and university administrators failed, Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, authorized the New York police to dismantle the encampment on April 18, leading to over 100 arrests.

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