A federal judge Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from deporting a Columbia University student who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school.
Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old junior and lawful permanent resident, filed a legal challenge one day earlier over efforts by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and deport her, which so far have been unsuccessful.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald agreed to Chung’s request to temporarily block the Trump administration from detaining or moving her out of New York until the court can more fully consider her arguments. Buchwald is an appointee of former President Clinton.
Chung has lived in the United States since she moved from South Korea at age 7. She says ICE has looked for her at her parents’ house and executed a search warrant at her college dormitory, claiming the effort amounts to unconstitutional retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, among other claims.
Immigration authorities have sought to detain Chung under the same provision used to justify detaining Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student who played a more prominent role by leading some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the school.
The provision makes someone deportable if the secretary of State reasonably believes their continued presence in the country “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Buchwald’s order also requires the government to provide “sufficient advance notice” if they attempt to justify detaining Chung under another provision.
The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
“The government’s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny,” Chung’s lawyers wrote in court filings.
“Simply put, immigration enforcement—here, immigration detention and threatened deportation—may not be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express political views disfavored by the current administration,” they continued.
Chung is represented by multiple law firms, the City University of New York’s CLEAR Project, Human Rights First and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
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