Columbia Student takes legal action against Trump administration amid deportation threat by ICE
Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student and U.S. permanent resident, is suing the Trump administration over deportation proceedings connected to her pro-Palestinian activism. Her legal team argues it's a violation of her constitutional rights.
Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old permanent U.S. resident and Columbia University student, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated deportation proceedings against her. The legal action follows her participation in pro-Palestinian protest, which her attorneys claim is retaliation for her First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit, which also targets top U.S. officials, including President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, argues that the government's actions against Chung are part of a broader pattern of punishing noncitizens for their political views.
Columbia student sues Trump administration
Chung, who has lived in the U.S. since she was seven, maintains a 3.99 GPA and has been an active participant in various legal activities, including her involvement in Columbia’s law review.
Her attorneys argue that she is among a growing number of noncitizens, like Mahmoud Khalil and Ranjani Srinivasan, who are allegedly targeted by the Trump administration for advocating Palestinian rights. The lawsuit claims that the administration has adopted policies that retaliate against these individuals by punishing them for their political expression.
Chung's protests, including an incident where she put up posters with the words “Wanted for Complicity in Genocide” at Columbia, were not deemed to violate university policy. She was arrested for a sit-in on campus in March, and the university placed her on interim suspension following her arrest. The lawsuit details how ICE officials issued an arrest warrant for her and conducted searches for records related to her at Columbia University.
The lawsuit names several top U.S. officials, including President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons.
DHS spokesperson addresses Yunseo Chung incident
“Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” the spokesperson said. “Chung will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge.”
Chung’s legal team has asked the court to stop the administration from enforcing immigration actions against her and to declare the policy of targeting noncitizens based on their political beliefs as unconstitutional. According to her attorneys, the government’s actions represent an unjustified attack on free speech.
“The government’s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny. Simply put, immigration enforcement — here, immigration detention and threatened deportation — may not be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express political views disfavored by the current administration,” Chung’s attorney say in the lawsuit.