Campus arrest tracker: Who has been detained for ‘anti-semitic’ or ‘pro-Hamas’ activity?
The latest on Mahmoud Khalil, other students at Columbia University, Brown, Georgetown who ICE wants to deport
Immigration officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University. by screenshot
By Louis Keene March 24, 2025
President Donald Trump vowed to fight antisemitism on campus, and in recent weeks his administration has ordered the deportation of at least seven university students or professors who are accused of engaging in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
While none of the seven has been convicted of a crime — and two are legal permanent residents — immigration officials have invoked a rarely-used provision in immigration law that allows the Secretary of State to deport noncitizens if their presence “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
Here are the students and professors who have been affected.
Mahmoud Khalil
Background: Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate student, who led pro-Palestinian protests at the school, was arrested March 8 and briefly held in New Jersey before being transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. Khalil, an Algerian citizen born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria in 1995, is married to a U.S. citizen.
Legal status: He has been a green card holder since 2024, making him a legal permanent resident; green cards can be revoked if their holder violates immigration law or is convicted of a crime.
Latest: A judge has blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Khalil, who is still being held. A separate judge ruled March 19 that he must be held in New Jersey.
Ranjani Srinivasan
Background: Ranjani Srinivasan, a Columbia doctoral student in urban planning, self-deported to Canada March 11 after ICE officers visited her home without a warrant. Srinivasan, a citizen of India, had been accused of participating in the takeover of Hamilton Hall last year — which she denies — and the Department of Homeland Security said she has been “involved in activities supporting Hamas,” including sharing or liking social media posts related to Palestinians in Gaza.
Legal status: Srinivasan was in the U.S. on a student visa, which was revoked in March.
Latest: “I’m not a ‘terrorist sympathizer,'” Srinivasan said in a March 17 interview with CBS Mornings, referencing a statement from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “So, I just find it kind of absurd.” She said she fled to Canada fearing detention.
Leqaa Kordia
Background: Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested March 14 by ICE agents from the Newark field office for overstaying her visa. Kordia had previously been arrested in 2024 for her involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University in New York City.
Legal status: Kordia’s student visa expired in 2022 due to “lack of attendance.”
Latest: Kordia is being held at an ICE detention facility in Texas.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh
Background: Alawieh, a physician and professor at Brown University, was deported upon arrival in Boston from her home country of Lebanon, where she had allegedly attended the funeral of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Though a federal judge had forbidden Alawieh’s deportation, Customs and Border Patrol detained her at the airport and searched her phone, which they said contained “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hezbollah leaders.
After what she said was a 36-hour detainment at the airport during which she was prevented from contacting her attorney, she boarded a plane to Lebanon.
Alawieh said that as a Sunni Muslim, she followed Nasrallah’s religious beliefs but did not support his politics.
Legal status: Alawieh, 34, was in the U.S. on an H1-B visa, typically granted to foreign workers with specialized skills. Her colleagues said she was one of the only transplant nephrologists in Rhode Island.
Latest: A federal judge is giving immigration officials a week to explain why it deported Alawieh in spite of the court order forbidding them from doing so.
Badar Khan Suri
Background: Suri was arrested at his home in Rosslyn, Virginia on March 17. A foreign exchange student researching peace-building processes in Iraq and Afghanistan, Suri is alleged to have spread Hamas propaganda and antisemitism on social media. His lawyer says he’s being punished because of his wife, who is a U.S. citizen of Palestinian heritage, and his father-in-law, Ahmed Yousef, who is a former political advisor to assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Legal status: Suri, an Indian national, was on a J-1 visa, typical for foreign exchange students.
Latest: Suri is being held in a detention center in Louisiana.
“If an accomplished scholar who focuses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar,” Hassan Ahmad, Suri’s lawyer, said Wednesday.
Momodou Taal
Background: ICE has sought the arrest of Taal, a PhD student at Cornell University who in 2024 led a shutdown of a career fair that featured weapons manufacturers. Betar USA, a militant pro-Israel organization classified as a hate group by the ADL, has taken credit for referring Taal to the State Department.
Legal status: Student visa
Latest: A hearing is scheduled in a lawsuit Taal filed preemptively seeking to block his arrest.
Yunseo Chung
Background: A junior at Columbia University, Chung, 21, is a legal permanent who has resided in the United States since she was 7. The Trump administration has sought to deport Chung because she participated in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Unlike Khalil, Chung does not appear to have been a leader of the protests, but she was arrested by police March 5 outside a building where pro-Palestinian protesters where conducting a sit-in. (She was given a desk appearance ticket and released.)
Legal status: Green card holder
Latest: Chung, who remains in the country according to her attorney, is suing to block the deportation order over violations of the First and Fifth Amendment and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
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