Yunseo Chung, 21, moved to the US when she was seven and now faces deportation over pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University.
United States permanent resident and Columbia University student Yunseo Chung, 21, has sued US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt her deportation, accusing authorities of using the same tactics employed against other college activists over their pro-Palestinian views.
Chung said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moved to deport her after she was arrested on March 5 while protesting against Columbia University’s disciplinary actions against student protesters.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday, Chung said that in the days after her arrest ICE officials signed an administrative arrest warrant and went to her parents’ residence seeking to detain her for deportation.
Chung is accused of having “engaged in concerning conduct” and was arrested during a “pro-Hamas protest”, according to a senior spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.
“She is being sought for removal proceedings under the immigration laws. Chung will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge,” the spokesperson said.
Immigration agents have not been able to detain Chung despite visiting her parents’ residences multiple times, according to reports.
Chung, who migrated to the US from South Korea with her parents when she was seven years old, is seeking a court order to block the Trump administration’s efforts to deport non-citizens who participated in campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. She is also asking a judge to prevent the administration from detaining her, moving her out of New York City or removing her from the country while her lawsuit plays out.
“ICE’s shocking actions against Ms Chung form part of a larger pattern of attempted US government repression of constitutionally protected protest activity and other forms of speech,” said Chung’s lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan.
If successful, Chung’s lawsuit could block the administration’s efforts to deport non-US citizens who took part in campus protests against Israel.
Chung’s lawsuit also cites the Trump administration’s efforts to deport five other students who have spoken out on pro-Palestinian issues.
In one of the most high-profile cases, immigration officials detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student, and told him his green card was being revoked because he participated in protests.
Khalil, who received a master’s degree last semester, served as a negotiator for students as they bargained with Columbia officials over an end to their campus tent encampment last spring.
Also due for deportation is Momodou Taal, of Cornell University, who received a notice last week to surrender to immigration authorities after he sued on March 15 to preempt deportation efforts.
Taal’s lawyer, Eric Lee, said Monday that his client is not being required to surrender before a hearing in the lawsuit scheduled for Tuesday in Syracuse.
The government has also detained Badar Khan Suri, an Indian studying at Georgetown University – though a federal judge has barred Suri’s deportation – as well as refusing to let a professor at Brown University’s medical school enter the US.
Chung’s petition comes after President Trump promised to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters, whom he has accused of being “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American”, a charge dismissed by the protests and rights advocates who say the president’s order violates the free speech rights of international students and scholars.