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#ICE Got Warrants Under “#FalsePretenses,” Claims #ColumbiaStudent Targeted Over #GazaProtests

The law behind the warrants bars concealment of people in the country illegally, yet the students were legal residents living on campus.

by Shawn Musgrave, March 28 2025

"Earlier this month, while hunting for #ColumbiaUniversity students to deport over their ties to #Gaza protests, the #Trump administration convinced a federal judge to sign off on search warrants for two students’ dorm rooms — then raided the residences with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

"As details about the warrants have emerged, however, so have allegations that federal agents misled the court and secured the warrants under 'false pretenses,' as one of the students whose room was searched, #YunseoChung, claimed in a lawsuit challenging her deportation.

"The warrants were predicated on probable cause that Columbia was 'harboring' students who were in the country illegally, court filings indicate. Chung, however, is a lawful permanent resident, notwithstanding the Trump administration’s efforts to deport her based on her arrest and citation at a Gaza sit-in. She has lived in the U.S. since she was 7 years old.

"'The basis for this entire operation is constitutionally invalid.'

"'The idea that they went before a federal magistrate judge and said, ‘We have to search Ms. Chung’s residence for evidence of Columbia harboring her’ — that shows they’re willing to lie to a judge,' said Nathan Yaffe, an immigration attorney.

"Yaffe represents both Chung and the other Columbia student who was targeted by the search warrants, #RanjaniSrinivasan, who left the country in mid-March.

"Most of the materials relating to the search warrants remain under seal in federal court, and Columbia declined to comment on them, citing student privacy protections. ICE did not respond to The Intercept’s questions about the warrants.

"'If the government falsified information to get the warrant, that is its own bundle of serious problems,' said Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, an attorney at #HumanRightsFirst who also represents Chung. 'But even if not, the basis for this entire operation is constitutionally invalid.'"

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/03/28/ice-warrants-columbia-students-gaza-protests/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/ruFDs
#MahmoudKhalil #RumeysaOzturk, #YunseoChung, #BadarKhunSuri #MomodouTaal #ResistICE #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Project2025 #ProjectEsther #USPol #Authoritarianism #TurdReich #CharacteristicsOfFascism