Headline

Judge Halts US Govt Effort To Detain Student For Deportation

Published

3 months ago

March 26, 2025

A judge ordered US authorities Tuesday to cease efforts to detain and deport a New York college student, as President Donald Trump presses his campaign against pupils linked to pro-Palestinian protests.

Trump has targeted New York’s Columbia University, where the student is enrolled, as an epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.

Critics argue that the Trump administration’s campaign is retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.

Authorities had sought to detain Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old South Korean citizen and permanent resident of the United States, under the same powers they used to arrest and hold Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil pending deportation.

In both cases, authorities argue the students undermined US foreign policy through their actions, a charge which allows the Secretary of State to deport foreigners.

Chung, whom officers reportedly have been unable to find, sued the US government Monday, arguing that “immigration enforcement — here, immigration detention and threatened deportation — may not be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express political views disfavored by the current administration.”

According to Chung’s lawyers, Columbia’s Public Safety department contacted Chung to tell her that Homeland Security agents were seeking her arrest.

At an emergency hearing Tuesday, judge Naomi Buchwald ordered the government to stop its effort to locate and remove Chung, a court order said.

“Defendants-Respondents are enjoined from detaining the Plaintiff-Petitioner pending further order of this Court,” Buchwald said in a temporary restraining order.

– ‘They won’t stop’ –
Separately, a number of university professors sued the Trump administration Tuesday, arguing its policy targeting foreign academics was illegal.

“The policy prevents or impedes Plaintiffs’ US citizen members from hearing from, and associating with, their non-citizen students and colleagues,” the lawsuit reads.

In addition, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers asked a New York judge to declare Trump’s slashing of $400 million from Columbia’s budget unconstitutional and to restore the funding.

Columbia’s student movement has been at the forefront of protests that have exposed deep rifts over the war in Gaza, drawing dividing lines on the issues of protest and free speech across the country.

Khalil, the arrested Columbia graduate student, was a prominent leader in the protest movement, leading negotiations between students and university authorities.

Lawyers are seeking to have him released from detention in Louisiana while they fight his deportation.

Chung, meanwhile, did not have such a high profile in the protest movement.

Her lawyers acknowledge that she was detained and released for “obstruction of governmental administration” and the case is pending in the New York courts system.

On March 13, federal agents searched two Columbia-owned residences apparently in connection with Chung’s case, according to her attorneys.

Activists call the protests that rocked numerous US campuses a show of support for the Palestinian people, while Trump condemns them as anti-Semitic and says they must end.

The president has cut $400 million in federal funding for Columbia — including research grants and other contracts — on the grounds that the institution has not adequately protected Jewish students from harassment.

Columbia announced Friday a package of concessions to the Trump administration around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.

They stopped short however of some of the more strenuous demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college’s proposals.

Todd Wolfson, of the American Association of University Professors that joined the academics’ lawsuit, said “the Trump administration is going after international scholars and students who speak their minds about Palestine, but make no mistake: they won’t stop there.”

Headline

Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump

Published

1 hour ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel’s air strikes on Iran had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

“Our enemy is your enemy… We’re dealing with something that will threaten all of us sooner or later. Our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to Trump on the US leader’s birthday.

“This is what Israel is doing with the support, the clear support of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the American people and many others in the world.”

Headline

US Lawmaker Shot Dead, Another Wounded In Targeted Attack

Published

1 hour ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

A gunman shot two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early Saturday, killing one and her husband and wounding the other, in what the northern US state’s governor said were politically motivated attacks.

The shootings came at a moment of deep political divisions in the United States, as thousands took to the streets in protest at the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.

The suspected assailant was still at large, officials said, with a massive manhunt underway.

Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi decried what they called “horrific violence” and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted to “the fullest extent of the law.”

State representative Melissa Hortman — the former speaker — and her husband Mark were killed at their home near Minneapolis, Governor Tim Walz told a press conference.

State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded, the governor said, his voice breaking with emotion. He said officials remained “cautiously optimistic” they would recover.

“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz told reporters.

“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Hoffman and his wife were shot first, and as police investigated, Hortman and her husband were shot about 90 minutes later.

The suspected gunman was able to escape during an exchange of gunfire with officers near Hortman’s residence, Evans told reporters.

“We’re actively searching for that individual right now,” he said.

– Impersonating law enforcement –

In both cases, authorities believe the assailant was impersonating a law enforcement officer.

“The suspect exploited the trust that our uniform is meant to represent,” said Bob Jacobson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

An anti-Trump rally in Minneapolis — part of the national wave of “No Kings” protests planned for Saturday — was canceled after police issued a shelter-in-place order because of the shootings.

Flyers for the protests were found in the suspect’s car, as well as a manifesto that named numerous politicians and state officials, police said.

Police are looking for a white man with brown hair, wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants, local TV station KSTP said.

“We do have the suspect’s car. Suspect is on foot,” said Mark Bruley, the police chief in Brooklyn Park, where Hortman lived.

The United States has been deeply divided since Trump returned to the White House in January.

The Republican president has drawn criticism from Democrats over his harsh deportation policy, his assault on universities and the media and a perceived flouting of limits on executive power as he pushes his agenda.

“At this precipice moment we’re on, this tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us,” Walz said.

“The democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place.”

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar remembered Hortman as a friend who entered politics at the same time as her and dedicated her life to serving the state, working on issues such as women’s rights and clean energy.

“Let me be absolutely clear: this was an act of targeted political violence, and it was an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “We must all condemn it.”

Minnesota’s other US senator, Tina Smith, also issued a statement condemning the shootings.

Former House member Gabby Giffords, who survived a shooting to the head in 2011 and is now a prominent advocate for the prevention of gun violence, described herself as “devastated” by the death of Hortman.

“We must protect our democracy from those who try to destroy it with a gun,” Giffords wrote on X.

Headline

Diplomat, Wife Injured In Iran Strikes On Tel Aviv

Published

2 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Croatia’s consul in Israel and his wife were lightly injured in Iran’s missile strikes on Tel Aviv, Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Saturday.

“I am shaken by the news that our consul and his wife were injured in the attack on Tel Aviv. The building they live in was hit,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

“I spoke with them and, fortunately, their injuries are minor and they are not in any life-threatening condition.”

Grlic Radman added that his ministry was in constant contact with the Croatian embassy in Israel and was taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its staff.

“We strongly condemn attacks on civilians and diplomatic facilities. We call for immediate de-escalation and restraint,” Grlic Radman said.

Israel on Friday launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, hitting scores of targets across the country, including nuclear and military sites and residential buildings.

Iran said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of Israeli strikes.

Iran retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles at Israel, killing three people and wounding dozens.

AFP