(The Center Square) — The Justice Department is investigating whether Columbia University concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus as the Trump administration ramps up its campaign to deport foreign nationals who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at the Ivy League school.
Speaking at the Justice Department on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the ongoing probe is part of President Donald Trump’s “mission to end antisemitism in this country” and foreshadowed other investigations tied to “terrorist” activities on college campuses.
“We are also looking at whether Columbia’s handling of earlier incidents violated civil rights laws and included terrorist crimes,” Blanche said in remarks Friday. “This is long overdue.”
He said federal law enforcement executed a search warrant on the campus Thursday as part of a separate probe into whether the New York City school sheltered undocumented immigrants on its campus.
On Friday, federal officials provided details about at least two of the people they had sought during the search of Columbia’s campus. A Columbia doctoral student from India whose visa was revoked by the Trump administration fled the country before being detained, DOJ said, and a Palestinian woman who was involved in the protests was arrested by federal immigration authorities in New Jersey for overstaying her student visa.
The move follows the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and Palestinian activist who helped organize last year’s protests. He is being held in Louisiana by immigration officials seeking to deport the green card holder, but a federal judge has temporarily blocked his removal from the country.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration pulled back $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia, arguing that the school didn’t comply with anti-discrimination laws when it failed to protect Jewish students during last year’s often violent demonstrations.
Columbia was the scene of large-scale demonstrations last year by students and others who called for an end to the Israeli military’s war against Hamas in Gaza and a recognition of Palestinians’ territorial claims.
In an email to faculty and students, Interim Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong said the college was “committed to upholding the law” and said she was “heartbroken” that federal agents visited the campus to search for students.
“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,” Armstrong wrote.
Over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move to detain Khalil and told reporters the Trump administration is expecting to revoke more student visas in the coming days.
“We don’t want terrorists in America,” Rubio told CBS News. “I don’t know where we have gotten it in our head that a visa is some sort of birthright. It’s not. If you violate the terms of your visitation, you’re going to leave.”
