Department of Homeland Security agents executed search warrants on two Columbia University residences on Thursday evening, just days after graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities, according to a statement from the university.
Katrina Armstrong, the university's interim president, said that no arrests were made, no items were removed, and no further action was taken by authorities. She said that DHS served the university with judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge to conduct the search.
"Our University Public Safety was present at all times," Armstrong said in a message to the school community. "Columbia continues to make every effort to ensure that our campus, students, faculty, and staff are safe. Columbia is committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same."
Earlier on Thursday, seven current students sued the school in a bid to block it from producing disciplinary records to a House committee as school officials said they were sanctioning students involved in pro-Palestinian rallies last spring.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the committee's request for the records violates the First Amendment and that the university's compliance with the committee constitutes a breach of contract.
Columbia officials declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder and Columbia graduate student who played a major role in student protests against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, is being held in a Louisiana detention center as immigration authorities seek to deport him. His wife told Reuters earlier this week that he arrived in the United States on a student visa in 2022 and gained his green card two years later.
Just as the seven students filed their suit, the university announced “multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions” for those who participated in the occupation of Hamilton Hall at the school's New York City campus.
The university did not say how many people it had disciplined.
Among those disciplined was Grant Miner. Miner, the president of a union representing thousands of Columbia student workers, was fired and expelled, UAW Local 2710 said.
Thursday's developments came hours after dozens of protesters calling for Khalil's release were arrested at a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City.
Last week, the Trump administration said it would cancel nearly $400 million in federal grants to the university “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Soon after, Columbia committed to engaging with Trump officials in hope of restoring the lost federal funds.
“We are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding. We take Columbia’s legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combating antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff,” a spokesperson for the university said last week.
On Thursday, the Trump administration outlined conditions and policy changes Columbia would have to implement to restore its funding and maintain a "continued financial relationship" with the federal government. The nine bullet points of required policy shifts include the demand to abolish the University Judicial Board to centralize all disciplinary processes under the Office of the President.
The letter to Columbia also required the university to complete disciplinary proceedings for students involved in the 2024 student protests.
In seeking Khalil's deportation, federal officials have cited a rarely used provision in immigration law that gives the secretary of state the authority to deport someone if it is determined that the person “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
The Department of Homeland Security has said Khalil’s activities "aligned" with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he had distributed "pro-Hamas propaganda" at Columbia's campus.
Khalil's legal team has said the arrest violates his free speech rights and that there is no evidence he provided support to a terrorist organization.
"There is no reason to believe, and I don’t think anybody who knows him would argue otherwise or suggest, that he would have any connection with any of these entities, but that’s also not what he stands for,” said Amy Greer, one of Khalil's attorneys.
Khalil, 30, is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who is married to a U.S. citizen and is a legal permanent resident of the United States.
His wife, who is eight months pregnant, said in a statement this week that “Mahmoud has been ripped away from me for no reason at all.”
