NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security searched two dorm rooms at Columbia University on Thursday night, as a recent grad and Palestinian activist faces potential deportation.
In a message to the community posted late Thursday, Columbia’s interim president Katrina Armstrong said she was “heartbroken to inform you that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences tonight.”
No one was arrested or detained, no items were removed, and no further action was taken, according to Armstrong, who said members of the school’s public safety team were present during the searches.
“Federal agents from the DHS served Columbia University with two judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge authorizing DHS to enter non-public areas of the University and conduct searches of two student rooms,” Armstrong said in her message.
Armstrong said the university requires law enforcement to have a judicial warrant to enter non-public areas of the campus like residential buildings.
She said in the case of Thursday’s searches “that threshold was met, and the University is obligated to comply with the law.”
“Columbia is committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same,” Armstrong said, adding the college prioritizes the safety of its community.
Armstrong acknowledged the “immense stress our community is under” as the university continues to make international headlines over activism on its campus related to Israel and Gaza, as well as ongoing concerns about antisemitism that have drawn the attention of the Trump administration, which has threatened to permanently pull federal funding.
In an ongoing saga playing out this past week, recent Columbia graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil—at times seen as “the face” of the demonstrations, according to his lawyers—was arrested last Saturday and taken to a detention facility in Louisiana as the U.S. government attempts to deport him on foreign policy grounds.
Earlier this week, Trump signaled Khalil’s arrest would be the first “of many to come” and vowed on social media to deport students he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
On Thursday, roughly 100 demonstrators were arrested in Midtown after they stormed Trump Tower and occupied the lobby, demanding Khalil’s release and saying the 30-year-old's detention is an attack on free speech.
This all comes after demonstrations rocked Columbia's campus last spring, leading to more than 100 arrests and the brief occupation of a campus building by dozens of people.