Who is Yunseo Chung, the Columbia student suing Trump for trying to deport her?

A 21-year-old Columbia University student, who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on the campus, is suing the Donald Trump-led administration for attempting to deport her despite her lawful permanent resident status.

Yunseo Chung has legally resided in the US since childhood.

Her attorneys filed a complaint on Monday describing the administration’s action as a “shocking overreach” and an “unprecedented and unjustifiable assault” on her rights.

Notably, after Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung is the second student who said that the administration has targeted her for pro-Palestinian views.

Here’s all we know about her.

Who is Yunseo Chung?

Originally from South Korea, Chung is a junior at Columbia University.

She has resided in America since age seven, when her family immigrated to the country.

The 21-year-old became a permanent resident of the US in 2021, according to the lawsuit, which was first reported by the New York Times.

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She has participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus since 2023, according to the complaint.

She was arrested on March 5 while protesting the university’s “excessive punishments” of student activists.

Just three days later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly signed an administrative arrest warrant for the student and attempted to remove her from the country.

In an attempt to find her, immigration officials searched Chung’s parents’ house the next day. A few days later, they carried out search warrants at two Columbia locations, including Chung’s university dormitory.

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An official told her lawyer her status as a permanent resident was being “revoked,” although such authority lies exclusively with immigration judges, according to The Hill reported.

Chung is now suing the Trump administration for trying to deport her despite her legal status.

What is the lawsuit she filed against the Trump administration?

Chung’s lawsuit filed on Monday names Trump, Marco Rubio, who the lawsuit claims ordered Chung’s legal status to be revoked, Kristi Noem, and other officials.

Notably, both Trump and Rubio have expressed support for removing international students’ visas for participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

While her complaint is pending, Chung is asking that a judge stop the administration from detaining her, relocating her outside of New York City, or expelling her from the US.

The lawsuit says, “ICE’s shocking actions against Chung form part of a larger pattern of attempted US government repression of constitutionally protected protest activity and other forms of speech.”

It adds that the government is seeking to “retaliate against and punish noncitizens” who speak out in solidarity with Palestinians and who are critical of the Israeli government’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza or the pro-Israeli policies of the US government and other US institutions.

“Ms Chung is challenging (the government’s) pattern and practice of targeting individuals associated with protests for Palestinian rights for immigration enforcement in retaliation for their core protected political speech,” the suit says.

Is this the first case?

No.

Mahmoud Khalil , a Palestinian activist who assisted in organising protests at Columbia University, was taken into custody by immigration officials earlier this month.

They claimed to be carrying out a state department directive to cancel his green card.

He is still being held in Louisiana.

The international student body at the institution was alarmed by his detention and fears that their visas may be cancelled.

Ranjani Srinivasan , a Columbia graduate student from India, fled to Canada after the Department of Homeland Security revoked her student visa.

DHS asserted in a press release that Srinivasan was engaged in “activities supporting Hamas,” although it provided no evidence to support this claim.

Badar Khan Suri , an Indian graduate student at Georgetown University studying in the United States on a student visa, was arrested by federal immigration authorities last Thursday on suspicion of “spreading Hamas propaganda.”

Politico reports that Suri’s attorneys argue that he is being “punished” because his wife, a US citizen, has Palestinian ancestry.

The Trump administration is actively attempting to deport and revoke the legal status of immigrants who have taken part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Warnings have been placed by a few US embassies in Europe for prospective tourists, as per The Guardian.

A US embassy in Estonia wrote, “When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Now, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorists organisations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would let you in if we had known that. You lied to us. You’re out.”

With inputs from agencies