As the Trump administration continues to crackdown on alleged pro-Hamas agitators on college campuses across the country, foreign students hiding from immigration authorities are adopting another legal strategy — suing before they are even arrested.
The Trump administration is cracking down on the many anti-Israel foreign student protesters who clashed with police, overtook campus property and allegedly harassed Jewish students at universities across the U.S.. The White House, which has made immigration enforcement a top policy priority, has already overseen the detention and deportation of several high-profile foreign nationals allegedly sympathetic to Hamas, a terrorist-designated organization.
Two foreign students — Yunseo Chung of Columbia University and Momodou Taal of Cornell University — are both wanted by federal immigration authorities. While neither have surrendered or been caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, both individuals have sued the Trump administration to put a halt to enforcement actions against them. In Chung’s case, she successfully requested a court to block her arrest — at least temporarily.
“This action challenges the government’s shocking overreach in seeking to deport a college student, Plaintiff-Petitioner Yunseo Chung, who is a lawful permanent resident of this country, because of her protected speech,” Chung’s lawyers stated in a lawsuit filed Monday against the Trump administration. “The government’s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny.”
Virtually every foreign student targeted by the Trump administration so far has claimed the actions violate their freedom of speech, but immigration experts that previously spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation pointed out that the issue has nothing to do with the First Amendment. The State Department has the authority to remove any non-citizen deemed a potential threat to U.S. foreign policy, which would include individuals appearing sympathetic to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
“This is definitely not a free speech issue,” Matt O’Brien, investigations director for the Immigration Reform Law Institute. O’Brien, who previously served as an immigration judge, pointed to a section in U.S. code that states, “An alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.”
“Temporary visa holders can have their visa revoked if they are found inadmissible and permanent visa holders (green cards) can lose their green cards and be removed if they violate a ground of removability,” said Lora Ries, the border security and immigration director at the Heritage Foundation. “The U.S. Government hasn’t charged terrorism-related grounds of deportability or sought to have a green card revoked for too long. And it shows.”
Chung, a 21-year-old permanent resident of the U.S. and native of South Korea, has been involved in the anti-Israel protests that have swept college campuses, her lawyers acknowledged in court documents. She was among the individuals arrested on March 5 amid a sit-in at Barnard College’s main library — a protest that turned violent.
As has become typical with pro-Palestine student activism, the protest at Barnard’s library disrupted classes and led to law enforcement arriving on scene. A bomb threat was called in, prompting police to evacuate the building, but some protesters allegedly chose to resist, leading to some being arrested. Following her arrest by the New York Police Department, Chung was given a desk appearance ticket for “obstruction of governmental administration,” which her lawyers framed as a “a common citation issued by the police at protests” in their court filing.
However, it didn’t take long for more serious consequences to materialize for Chung. Her lawyers accuse ICE officials of signing an administrative warrant for her arrest on March 8 and allege that ICE agents visited her residence looking for her on March 9. The following day, a federal law enforcement official informed her counsel that her lawful permanent status was revoked.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Chung is wanted by immigration authorities, and accused her of participating in pro-Hamas activities.
“Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” a DHS spokesperson said to the DCNF. “She is being sought for removal proceedings under the immigration laws. Chung will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge.”
In an interview with the New York Times, her lawyers would not comment on her whereabouts, but she likely is in no need to hide out for the time being. On Tuesday, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York temporarily blocked the Trump administration from arresting her.
“Defendants-Respondents are enjoined from detaining the Plaintiff-Petitioner pending further order of this Court,” Reice, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, wrote in her order. The judge also instructed the Trump administration to give advance notice to the court if it wishes to detain Chung for reasons beyond her removal from the country.
Taal, a 31-year-old Ph.D. student in Africana Studies at Cornell University, sued the Trump administration shortly before the State Department decided to pull his student visa. In his lawsuit, Taal challenges two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump — Executive Order 14161 and Executive Order 14188 — that aim to clamp down on anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas activity by foreign student protesters.
The Gambian national claims the orders have forced him to withdraw from public engagement, depriving others of their “rights to listen” to his rhetoric sympathizing with Hamas and espousing anti-Israel sentiment, according to his lawsuit.
“As a result of the executive orders, Mr. Taal has been forced to profoundly alter his prior speech and association patterns,” his attorneys stated. “He has refrained from attending protests and public political meetings, has substantially reduced his activity on social media, and no longer discusses politics with associates from Cornell, fearing his words will be misinterpreted or reported to government authorities.”
“He lives in constant fear that he may be arrested by immigration officials or police as a result of his speech,” the lawsuit continues.
Taal has repeatedly declared his hatred for America over the years on social media and he celebrated the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists.
“The end of the US empire in our lifetime in sha Allah,” Taal posted online in February 2022. Just several months later, he — seemingly contradictorily — celebrated his acceptance into a U.S. university, writing “Student Visa issued. We going to America baby! Alhamdulillah! Let’s get this PhD.” He later reiterated his contempt for America, posting “My hatred of the US empire knows no bound. Wallahi,” in November 2022.
Taal rejoiced online the day Hamas militants stormed into Israeli territory and killed roughly 1,200 people. “The dialect demands: That wherever you have oppression, you will find those who fighting against it. Glory to the resistance!” he posted in the early morning hours of Oct. 7, 2023.
Taal was facing consequences for his campus actions before Trump returned to office and signed any executive orders targeting pro-Hamas protesters, according to Inside Higher Ed. Cornell University officials suspended him for a second time by October 2024, with a university email telling him he “demonstrated a pattern of escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the university policies.”
Earlier in March, DHS asked Taal to surrender to immigration authorities. The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed that his student visa was pulled, arguing that the move is in line with Trump’s directives.
“This Department has already been fighting in court to vigorously defend President Trump’s agenda and will continue to do so, especially when it comes to protecting Jewish Americans,” a DOJ spokesperson stated.
Trump has taken unprecedented steps in attempting to remove allegedly pro-Hamas students from U.S. soil.
In the most high-profile case to date, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, earlier in March and have kept him detained at a facility in Louisiana while his deportation challenge plays out in court. ICE agents have also detained Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and researcher at Georgetown University, and arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, after her student visa expired and was previously arrested for her alleged participation in pro-Hamas activity at Columbia University.
The White House successfully deported Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese national working as an assistant professor at Brown University, after immigration officials allegedly discovered adoring pictures of deceased Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah and other pro-terrorist images. Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national who allegedly participated in anti-Israel protests, self-deported to Canada after her visa was revoked.
The Trump administration appears to have only just begun cracking down on anti-American foreign students. DHS says it will continue to investigate students allegedly engaged in pro-Hamas activity.
“ICE [Homeland Security Investigations] will investigate individuals engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization,” a DHS spokesperson said to the DCNF. “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.”
Featured Image Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
