The US Department of Homeland Security on Friday announced the arrest of a second person linked to pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University and have revoked the visa of another student.
Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the occupied West Bank, was arrested by immigration officers for overstaying her student visa, the agency said.
Ms Kordia’s visa was terminated in January 2022 for “lack of attendance”, the department said. She was arrested for her involvement in protests at Columbia in April 2024, it added.
President Donald Trump's administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student, on March 5 “for advocating for violence and terrorism”.
On Tuesday, Mr Srinivasan opted to “self-deport”, the department said.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country.”
On Thursday, authorities arrested at least 98 people during a protest at Trump Tower in New York City, demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil. Mr Khalil, a Palestinian activist who helped lead student protests at Columbia University, is facing deportation after his arrest last weekend.
Mr Khalil was rushed from New York to Louisiana in a manner that left the former graduate student feeling like he was being kidnapped, his lawyers wrote in an updated lawsuit seeking his immediate release.
At a hearing on Wednesday, Mr Khalil's lawyers said they had not been allowed any protected communications with their client since his arrest and had been told they could speak to him in 10 days.
Judge Jesse Furman ordered that at least one conversation be permitted on Wednesday and Thursday.
Columbia has, since Mr Khalil's detention, declared that students who occupied Hamilton Hall during pro-Palestinian protests last spring have been expelled, faced long suspensions or had their degrees temporarily revoked.
