A federal judge on Tuesday halted the detention and potential deportation of a Columbia University junior who was arrested outside the hours-long takeover of a Barnard College library earlier this month.
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald issued a temporary restraining order, directing immigration authorities not to detain Yunseo Chung or transfer her out of New York “pending further order of this Court,” according to Manhattan court filings. She set a hearing on the matter for the morning of May 20.
Chung, 21, is a green-card holder originally from South Korea who has been in the United States since she was a child. Earlier this week, she sued the Trump administration after being told there was an administrative warrant for her arrest related to her involvement in pro-Palestinian protest activity on the uptown Manhattan campus.
Chung had been protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since 2023, but did not assume a “high-profile role” in the demonstrations, her attorneys said. On March 5, she was one of several protesters arrested at Barnard, a women’s college affiliated with Columbia, for not cooperating with police during a bomb threat. Columbia suspended her on an interim basis.
Days later, Chung was told by the Trump administration that her lawful permanent resident status had been revoked, according to court documents. Agents visited her residence hall on March 13 and also showed up at her parents’ house. The student’s lawyers are keeping mum on her whereabouts.
The warrant for Chung’s arrest comes after the detention of Columbia pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, whose threatened deportation has sparked condemnation and protests over free speech. The Trump administration also revoked the visa of another Columbia student, Ranjani Srinivasan, who has since fled the United States. Her dorm room was reportedly entered the same night as Chung’s.
Separately, Columbia’s Knight First Amendment Institute on Tuesday represented faculty groups in filing a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from undertaking “large-scale” detentions and deportations of international students participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
“Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Monday. “She is being sought for removal proceedings under the immigration laws.”