 "DoJ probes whether Columbia University hid ‘illegal alien’ students during anti-Israel protests")
The US Department of Justice is investigating whether Columbia University concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus. One of DoJ officials close to the matter told the Associated Press about the Department’s next move on Friday. The probe is coming at a time when US President Donald Trump’s administration has intensified its campaign to deport foreigners who took part in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.
Earlier this week, agents with the Department of Homeland Security searched two university residences with a search warrant. No arrest was made at that time, and it was unclear for whom the authorities were searching. On Friday afternoon, US officials announced the arrest of two people they believed were involved in the demonstration.
In the midst of all this, a Columbia doctoral student from India whose visa was revoked by the Trump administration fled to the US on an airliner. Meanwhile, a Palestinian woman who was arrested during the protests at the university last April was arrested once again by federal immigration authorities in Newark, New Jersey. The woman was accused of overstaying on an expired visa.
While speaking at the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the arrests were part of the president’s “mission to end antisemitism in this country.”
Blanche does not give details
While the DoJ official pushed Trump’s rhetoric, he did not say what evidence agents had of the wrongdoings by the university. “Just last night, we worked with the Department of Homeland Security to execute search warrants from an investigation into Columbia University for harbouring and concealing illegal aliens on its campus,” Blanche told reporters on Friday.
“That investigation is ongoing, and we are also looking at whether Columbia’s handling of earlier incidents violated civil rights laws and included terrorism crimes," he added. However, it was unclear whether he was accusing the school itself of “terrorism crimes” or saying that people involved in the protests had committed such crimes.
In a message to the school community following the arrest, Columbia University’s interim President, Katrina Armstrong, said the Ivy League is “committed to upholding the law.” She described herself as “heartbroken” that federal agents had been on campus searching student rooms.
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More Shorts“I understand the immense stress our community is under,” Armstrong wrote in the statement. “Despite the unprecedented challenges, Columbia University will remain a place where the pursuit of knowledge is cherished and fiercely protected, where the rule of law and due process is respected and never taken for granted, and where all members of our community are valued and able to thrive," she added.
Columbia under Trump’s radar
The university has come under immense pressure from the Trump administration in recent weeks. Last month, the US government cancelled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the school. Much of the funds cut were for medical research. The move was seen as a punishment for the University not cracking down harder on students and faculty who took part in anti-Israel activities last spring.
Trump and other officials have often accused the protesters of being “pro-Hamas” since the ongoing war in Gaza was triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s surprise attack in southern Israel.
Not only this, the Trump administration has also threatened to permanently end federal funding to the Ivy League school unless it took a variety of steps, including changing its admissions process and ceding faculty control of its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department to a receiver for five years.
The government also demanded that schools ban people from wearing masks on campus and change how they recruit international students. It also called for the adoption of a definition of antisemitism and the abolishment of its student disciplinary process.
With inputs from the Associated Press.
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