Hundreds of Columbia students gathered frantically on Tuesday, March 25 in a cathedral near campus for an emergency union meeting, debating how to respond against what they described as the university administration’s “concessions to fascism.”
The uproar ignited on March 9, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate and student activist Mahmoud Khalil at his home without a judicial warrant. Federal authorities claimed to revoke Khalil’s green card from his involvement in pro-Palestine campus protests since Israel’s war on Gaza.
Columbia has yet to issue a public statement addressing the arrest in a university-owned residential building or clarifying whether it had prior knowledge, fueling speculation among students about the university’s collaboration with law enforcement.
From the back of the cathedral, a student’s voice cut through the noise: “We are confused about what has happened but it’s clear that the administration has made certain decisions without our consultation.”
Returning from spring break, the student described the campus as unrecognizable. “We need to know: Will we still have the same academic freedom we had two weeks ago?”
The space swelled with a mix of fear, anger, and grief—not just for Khalil, now held in a Louisiana detention center as his lawyers race against time to prevent his deportation before his wife gives birth next month, but for others caught in the widening crackdown.
Since February, ICE and NYPD officers have ramped up their presence on campus, aggressively targeting students with visas or green cards over their pro-Palestine activism. Indian PhD student Ranjani Srinivasan was forced to flee the country on March 11, while Yunseo Chung, a South Korean undergraduate, [sued](https://mondoweiss.net/2025/03/explainer-the-lawsuits-aiming-to-stop-trumps-assault-on-free-speech-and-palestine-activism/) the Trump administration this week after its attempts to deport her.
“It’s absolutely devastating to realize that this institution that you once thought was so hallowed is now the perpetrator of violence against their own students who are coming to this country and this school for better opportunities,” Allie Mei, a PhD student, said in an interview.
Mei is a member of the Columbia Student Workers Union (UAW Local 2710), one of the largest student worker unions in the country, with over 3,000 members. Khalil was a member before graduating in December.
The union’s International Students Working Group advocates for international students’ rights, addressing issues such as housing, communication, travel, student status, and visas. Following Khalil’s detention, the group saw a surge in engagement, with U.S. citizens joining in support and international students reaching out over safety concerns.
“As an American, I feel an obligation to serve as either a literal or a figurative shield for my international brothers and sisters,” Mei said. “They’ve come for the American dream but are instead becoming casualties in a political war that they have nothing to do with”
The union is also pushing for Columbia to commit to being a sanctuary campus as part of its contract negotiations. However, on the eve of bargaining for the next contract, the university expelled UAW Local 2710 President Grant Miner for his participation in the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring. The following day, Columbia canceled the bargaining session amid backlash.
Miner was among 22 students suspended, expelled, or stripped of their degrees on March 13 for their involvement in the Hamilton Hall occupation. Several other students at Columbia and Barnard have also faced suspension or expulsion for other pro-Palestine protests throughout the semester.
Columbia’s crackdown on pro-Palestine activism comes as the Trump administration announces a $400 million cut in federal funding to universities that, according to the administration, have failed to address “antisemitism” on campus. In response, the university has introduced new policies that align with the administration’s demands in an apparent effort to retain funding.
On March 21, Columbia implemented several of Trump’s directives, including a ban on masks, the hiring of 36 “special officers” with the authority to remove students from campus or arrest them, placing the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department and the Center for Palestine Studies, under the oversight of an administrator who will have direct control over curriculum decisions and non-tenure faculty hiring.
A student is confronted by a New York Police Department officer outside Columbia University on October 7, 2024. (Photo: Tamara Turki)
On March 24, a day before students would meet to discuss how to fight back against concessions to facisms, a few dozen faculty members held a “Vigil for Democracy” outside Columbia’s gates, condemning the university’s compliance with the Trump administration’s demands. Faculty carried signs reading “Hands off our teaching” and “Defend freedom of speech.”
Many student activists were frustrated that the demonstration sidestepped the issue of Palestine.
“I think viewing this through a lens of democracy or free speech is the easy route,” said a Palestinian-American graduate student, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s what you say when you don’t want to say the word ‘Palestine.’ It’s the route you take to protect yourself and your career out of fear. But it’s not the time to be afraid anymore.”
Some students and faculty have framed the situation as fascism newly arriving at Columbia, but the student argued that the current crackdown was manufactured by both the Biden administration and the Columbia administration, who by “demonizing the student movement, paved the way for Trump’s policies.”
Since the detention of her friend Khalil, the student described experiencing heightened stress and anxiety, constantly fearing surveillance or questioning both on campus and at home. Even routine activities, like studying in the library, trigger paranoia, making daily tasks feel overwhelming.
“When the genocide escalated in October 2023, I felt a paralysis I had never experienced before. I never expected that, a year and a half later, I’d still be consumed by the same thoughts,” she said.
Despite Columbia’s crackdown and her disappointment in the faculty response, she remains committed to organizing.
“The guilt I feel is always, but it motivates me to act especially now, with Mahmoud’s detention, our peer and our friend. So rather than sitting there frozen and doing nothing, we must turn guilt into action and recognize that it is our right to change the world.”
Shortly after the faculty vigil on Monday, a group of students wearing keffiyehs gathered outside Columbia’s gates before beginning a picket. An NYPD officer approached them, stating, “You can’t be here, this is a frozen zone”—a term typically used for areas deemed off-limits due to an imminent terrorist threat or emergency.
The students, visibly confused, pointed out that their classmates just a few feet away were freely entering campus. “What is a frozen zone? What are the parameters? Who mandated this?” they asked. The officer refused to answer before kettling them into a nearby barricaded area.
Many students, both U.S. citizens and international, say the heavy police presence on and around campus has made them fearful of protesting. Others remain undeterred.
“For me, it was never a consideration to stop organizing,” said an undergraduate student who was suspended this semester for her activism. “I don’t think I fully grasped the consequences when I first got involved, but I knew it didn’t matter because Palestine is so much bigger than any of us.”
The student, who had little knowledge of Palestine before October 7, credited friends and organizers for bringing her into the movement. Despite experiencing deep personal loss and grief, she continues to participate in student organizing for divestment from Israel off campus.
“I think the fear never actually goes away,” said a suspended student activist, who asked to remain anonymous. “So many of our friends have been taken and abducted by the state and are being hunted in a way that we are still preparing against. But I always feel the bravest when I’m with everyone else.”
Other students who aren’t able to protest are engaging with the movement in various ways. Several Columbia law students have been organizing Know Your Rights presentations, adapting materials originally aimed at undocumented or mixed-status families to address the concerns of visa and green card holders.
The students ramped up the presentations after Khalil’s detainment and the increased ICE presence on campus. They held two sessions during spring break, with more planned soon.
“For directly impacted students, there’s a lot of distrust in Columbia right now, so having these presentations come from students has made people more receptive to sharing, talking, and engaging in the conversation,” one law student, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
The law student sees these presentations as crucial for the broader community, ensuring everyone understands the rights of noncitizens so they can stand up for their communities.
“In the chaos of watching people be brutalized on campus and the existential dread of being a future immigration attorney in the Trump administration, organizing these presentations feels like a breath of fresh air amid the panic I feel every day,” she said. “It’s inspiring to see people, even those new to activism, come together to care about these issues. It provides a meaningful way for many to engage, ask questions, and process information.”
Meanwhile, another undergraduate student activist, a legal enthusiast, has been using her self-taught legal research to guide students on the potential risks of activism and connect them to external resources to navigate the university’s disciplinary process.
“I was facing disciplinary threats during the encampment last spring, and I really admired the people who helped me through it,” said the student, who requested to remain anonymous. “I wanted to figure out how I could be a calming presence for others going through scary situations.”
Like many other students, she expressed feelings of anger and grief but a strong desire to continue fighting against Columbia’s repression of student activism.
“We’ve seen clearly that Columbia University is willing to give the Trump administration whatever it wants,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep pushing too, in whatever ways we can, make our school a safe space—at least from getting kidnapped by ICE.”
**Tamara Turki**
Tamara Turki is a Palestinian-Austrian journalist and law graduate based in New York, with a focus on covering activism.