Another Columbia anti-Israel protester arrested, 3rd ‘self-deports’, US feds say
Arrest comes after detention of university activist Mahmoud Khalil sets off widespread uproar; federal agents visit campus housing; hundreds protest outside college gates
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — A Palestinian student protester at New York’s Columbia University has been arrested, and another whose visa was revoked “self-deported,” the US Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.
The announcement came after federal agents last Saturday detained a campus protest leader, Mahmoud Khalil, setting off furious backlash. The arrests are part of a wider crackdown on anti-Israel activism on US campuses by the Trump administration.
The department said Friday that Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was arrested by Newark, New Jersey, immigration officers for overstaying an expired student visa.
Her visa expired in January 2022 due to “lack of attendance,” the statement said, adding that Kordia was arrested after partaking in “pro-Hamas protests” at Columbia in April 2024. Around that time, activists took over a campus building and held an unauthorized protest encampment.
The other student, Ranjani Srinivasan, from India, had her visa revoked on March 5 for “supporting Hamas and terrorist activities,” the Department of Homeland Security said. Srinivasan was a doctoral student in urban planning at Columbia on a student visa. She used a US Customs and Border Protection app to “self-deport” on Tuesday, the department said.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday told reporters at a meeting in Canada that the administration intends to revoke more student visas.
On Thursday, federal agents visited two university residences but did not make any arrests, the interim university president, Katrina Armstrong, said in a campus email. Armstrong said she was “heartbroken.”
Khalil’s detention has set off widespread uproar and daily protests in New York, including on Friday, when several hundred protesters gathered outside Columbia in support of Khalil.
The protesters chanted, “Intifada people’s war” and “Resistance is glorious.”
“It is right to rebel, Columbia go to hell,” they chanted.
Crowd chants “resistance is glorious” outside Columbia pic.twitter.com/mM8mozyjXx
— Luke Tress (@luketress) March 14, 2025
The protest took place off campus on Broadway Ave., outside Columbia’s main gate. The campus is only accessible to those with a Columbia ID.
It was not clear how many of the protesters were students. Many had their faces covered with masks or keffiyehs. They held signs that said “Free Mahmoud” and “The people want the fall of the regime.”
Police set up metal barricades all around the protest area. Two helicopters hovered overhead, and onlookers watched from balconies and windows on campus.
The demonstration was backed by an array of Muslim and anti-Israel activist groups.
The coalition of Columbia protest groups, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, on Friday posted photos of an “anonymous submission” showing red paint splattered on the Columbia president’s mansion alongside graffiti that said “Free them all” and an inverted triangle, a Hamas symbol.
Also Friday, the US Justice Department said it was looking into what it said were possible violations of terrorism laws during the protests at Columbia. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the investigation was part of President Donald Trump’s “mission to end antisemitism in this country,” calling it a pushback that was “long overdue.”
On Thursday, federal officials sent a letter to university leaders outlining steps Columbia must take to secure its federal funding. The Trump administration cut $400 million in funding for Columbia last week over campus antisemitism and threatened billions more.
The letter said the university must enact discipline against student protesters, institute a mask ban, adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, create a plan for admissions reform, and put the academic department covering the Middle East under academic receivership, meaning an outside figure, not from the department’s faculty, would take the helm of the department.
Amid the pressure from the administration, Columbia on Thursday said it had expelled, suspended and revoked the degrees of students who forcibly took over the campus building last year. There were no details about the number of students punished.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest claimed that 22 students had been sanctioned.
Khalil, originally from Syria, is a green card holder and a recent graduate. He was a leader of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest and was detained outside his home in New York on Saturday.
The White House has said Khalil is being deported for distributing pro-Hamas propaganda. Days before his detention, he attended a protest at Barnard where activists distributed Hamas material. Federal immigration laws prohibit non-citizens from espousing support for terror groups. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, for which he served as an organizer and spokesperson, in the past also voiced support for terror groups and violence.
Khalil’s supporters say he is being persecuted for his activism, in violation of free speech protections. He has not been charged with a crime.
In a Thursday court filing, Khalil’s lawyers said he was a Palestinian who grew up in Syria. When the war broke out in Syria, his family was displaced and is now dispersed in Europe and West Asia. Khalil entered the US on a student visa in 2022 to pursue a graduate degree at Columbia, completing the program in December.
Khalil became a lawful permanent resident in 2024 and is married to a US citizen who is pregnant with their first child.
He previously worked at a British embassy, interned with the United Nations, and has Algerian citizenship, the court filing said. He was a leader of the protest encampment last spring, serving as a mediator between the protesters and the university administration.
The Thursday court filing was an amended complaint that came after a judge ordered Khalil to be allowed phone calls with his lawyers. Khalil told his lawyers he “felt as though he was being kidnapped” as federal agents gave him little information while he was whisked across the country to the detention facility where he is being held in Louisiana.
Khalil’s legal team is pushing for his release in a federal court in Manhattan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
