Second Columbia protester arrested after alleged Hamas support

ICE officers arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student from the West Bank, after she overstayed her expired F-1 student visa. Her visa was terminated over three years ago, in January 2022, for lack of attendance, according to a statement by the Department of Homeland Security. Since that time, Kordia was arrested in April 2024 for involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University, the agency said. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called Kordia and another student “terrorist sympathizers” in a statement.

Didn’t something else happen like this recently? Kordia is the second Columbia University student demonstrator to face possible deportation after 30-year-old Mahmoud Khalil was arrested on Sunday over allegations that he led activities aligned with Hamas.

Who was the other student Noem called a terrorist sympathizer? Additionally, DHS said on Friday that a Columbia student whose student visa was revoked opted to self-deport using the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Home App. Noem released a video that she said showed Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national, deporting herself. The video appeared to show a young woman walking briskly down a hallway dragging luggage behind her. The student’s visa was revoked because she advocated for violence and terrorism, according to Homeland Security. The agency did not specify what form that advocacy took.

Is the school doing anything to discipline student protesters for previous disruptions? On Thursday Columbia University issued a statement saying its judicial board had issued sanctions to student demonstrators who seized control of Hamilton Hall, a campus building, last spring. Those disciplinary actions included multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions, according to the statement.

How did we get here? The action comes a week after the Trump administration notified the university that it would cancel $400 million in federal funding for the school. The administration accused the school of continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students as the reason for the fund cancellation, according to a statement by Interim Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong. In response, Armstrong emphasized that the school took the allegation seriously and was willing to work with the federal government to address legitimate concerns.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s story about a federal anti-Semitism task force that is investigating colleges.