A federal judge in Manhattan has blocked immigrants from detaining the Trump administration, a Columbia University student and a legal permanent resident, from custodying Yunzeo Chong, who is about to take part in the Gaza solidarity protest.
The 21-year-old green cardholder, who has been living in the United States since he was seven, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, claiming that the government is “bludged with immigration enforcement and trying to curb speeches they dislike.”
US District Judge Naomi Reiss Buchold told the court that the government has not made sufficient facts about its claims against Korean origin Chong. Bokwald granted the temporary restraining order requested by Chong. This also prohibits the government from banning her from moving her outside of the Southern District of New York.
The ruling comes as the Trump administration is actively targeting Palestinian pro-university protesters across the United States, threatening to cancel grants from universities that it claims to have not cut funds or prevent anti-Semitism.
Efforts to deport green cardholders have sparked widespread backlash from civil liberties and immigration rights groups. The United States has also been not charged with crime by banishing Palestinian activist and recent Colombian alumnus Mahmoud Khalil. Halil was arrested in a Columbia-owned building in New York in front of his pregnant wife and was later transferred to Louisiana custody.
To prevent the transfer of Chong from the district to the US, Buchwald said: “There are no trips to Louisiana here.”
Chong’s lawsuit alleges that immigration officials moved to deport her to “from the only country she ever knew,” after being identified in news reports as part of a group of protesters arrested after a sit-in at the library library at Bernard University, a campus in Columbia.
Chung was given tickets for “obstruction of government administration,” according to her lawsuit filed by Clear, a clinic at New York University Law School. However, a few days later, the US government “started a series of illegal efforts to arrest, detain and remove Ms. Chong for her protected speech,” her lawyer alleged.
On March 9, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appeared at Chung’s parents’ house, and the next day, US law enforcement officers advised their lawyers that her legal permanent resident status had been revoked. US agents also ran search warrants at two homes on their Columbia campus, seeking documents related to Chung, despite the warrant targeting Chung.
“The highest ranks of government officials are trying to use immigration enforcement as a BL arrogance to curb speeches they dislike, including Mr. Chong’s speech,” the lawsuit said.
Feeling that Chong has “moved to participate in efforts to defend Palestine human rights,” he visited the Gaza Solidarity camp for discussion and events, but without making a public statement, he will assume the liaison or famous role between the protesters and the university, her lawyer said. She was a junior in Columbia, attended campus literature journals, undergraduate law journals, and was a high school Valé Dictarian.
Jordan Wells, a senior lawyer on the San Francisco Gulf Regional Lawyers Committee representing Chong, praised the ruling, saying, “We will not be able to prevent the Secretary of State from being allowed to elect university students for expulsion from the United States for political protest.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Monday that Chong was “involved in the conduct,” including being arrested in protest.
The DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment after Tuesday’s verdict.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration cancelled a $400 million grant to Columbia and said the university was unable to protect students from anti-Semitism despite institutions last year suspending pro-Palestinian student groups and promoting arrests.
The Associated Press contributed to reporting
