Columbia, Cornell Students Evade ICE as Their Lawyers Counter Trump's Moves
The lawyers representing the students are requesting that the courts prevent the enforcement of the president’s executive orders.
TroibNews 
A junior at Columbia University and a graduate student at Cornell University are reportedly evading immigration enforcement while their lawyers seek judicial intervention against the Trump administration's deportation efforts, which they argue are retaliatory actions linked to the students' pro-Palestinian activism.
Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old Columbia student from South Korea who has resided in the U.S. for 14 years and holds a green card, has petitioned a New York judge for an order that would prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining her. This legal action comes in response to the State Department's assertion that her continued presence in the U.S. undermines American foreign policy.
Similarly, Momodou Taal, a Cornell University graduate student with a student visa and dual citizenship in the U.K. and Gambia, has had trouble evading ICE, which has reported difficulty in locating him since March 14. He has filed a lawsuit aiming to halt President Trump’s broad executive orders that target antisemitism on college campuses.
According to a filing by the Justice Department, the State Department canceled Taal’s student visa due to his alleged involvement in disruptive protests and a pattern of behavior that violated university policies, purportedly creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.
Chung and Taal are urging the courts to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing what they claim are directives that subtly aim to penalize pro-Palestinian activists who participated in protests at university campuses last year.
So far, the legal matters of Chung and Taal have not received as much public attention as the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent leader of Columbia University protests, who was arrested by the administration and relocated to Louisiana earlier this month. Like Chung, Khalil is contesting his deportation following a similar determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher, was also detained by Homeland Security officials last week and sent to Louisiana.
The lawsuits filed by Chung and Taal represent a growing clash between the Trump administration and immigrants, who, despite being lawfully present in the U.S. and not charged with any crimes, are targeted for deportation. The State Department accuses Khalil and Suri of disseminating “propaganda” for Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, although Hamas has functioned as the de facto government of Gaza for almost twenty years.
Particularly in Taal’s situation, the Trump administration has linked the cancellation of his visa to an executive order issued by Trump in January that focuses on antisemitism.
“ICE is steadfast in its commitment to enforcing the Executive Order prohibiting anti-Semitism and safeguarding national security. ICE conducts targeted analysis to substantiate aliens’ alleged engagement of antisemitic activities,” declared ICE official Roy Stanley in a court filing in Manhattan on Saturday.
Administration representatives have dismissed Taal’s accusations that his removal proceedings were initiated in part as retaliation for his lawsuit, insisting that those proceedings began before he filed suit.
Numerous pro-Palestinian activists contesting the administration in court have expressed concerns that they have come under scrutiny following the publication of personal information about them on pro-Israel websites. While Stanley's declaration does not directly address this assertion, it states that an ICR counterterrorism intelligence unit “proactively reviews open-source information to identify individuals subject to the Executive Order,” incorporating “unclassified information that has been published or broadcast in some manner to the general public.”
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old Columbia student from South Korea who has resided in the U.S. for 14 years and holds a green card, has petitioned a New York judge for an order that would prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining her. This legal action comes in response to the State Department's assertion that her continued presence in the U.S. undermines American foreign policy.
Similarly, Momodou Taal, a Cornell University graduate student with a student visa and dual citizenship in the U.K. and Gambia, has had trouble evading ICE, which has reported difficulty in locating him since March 14. He has filed a lawsuit aiming to halt President Trump’s broad executive orders that target antisemitism on college campuses.
According to a filing by the Justice Department, the State Department canceled Taal’s student visa due to his alleged involvement in disruptive protests and a pattern of behavior that violated university policies, purportedly creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.
Chung and Taal are urging the courts to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing what they claim are directives that subtly aim to penalize pro-Palestinian activists who participated in protests at university campuses last year.
So far, the legal matters of Chung and Taal have not received as much public attention as the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent leader of Columbia University protests, who was arrested by the administration and relocated to Louisiana earlier this month. Like Chung, Khalil is contesting his deportation following a similar determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher, was also detained by Homeland Security officials last week and sent to Louisiana.
The lawsuits filed by Chung and Taal represent a growing clash between the Trump administration and immigrants, who, despite being lawfully present in the U.S. and not charged with any crimes, are targeted for deportation. The State Department accuses Khalil and Suri of disseminating “propaganda” for Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, although Hamas has functioned as the de facto government of Gaza for almost twenty years.
Particularly in Taal’s situation, the Trump administration has linked the cancellation of his visa to an executive order issued by Trump in January that focuses on antisemitism.
“ICE is steadfast in its commitment to enforcing the Executive Order prohibiting anti-Semitism and safeguarding national security. ICE conducts targeted analysis to substantiate aliens’ alleged engagement of antisemitic activities,” declared ICE official Roy Stanley in a court filing in Manhattan on Saturday.
Administration representatives have dismissed Taal’s accusations that his removal proceedings were initiated in part as retaliation for his lawsuit, insisting that those proceedings began before he filed suit.
Numerous pro-Palestinian activists contesting the administration in court have expressed concerns that they have come under scrutiny following the publication of personal information about them on pro-Israel websites. While Stanley's declaration does not directly address this assertion, it states that an ICR counterterrorism intelligence unit “proactively reviews open-source information to identify individuals subject to the Executive Order,” incorporating “unclassified information that has been published or broadcast in some manner to the general public.”
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
