Yunseo Chung- a Columbia University-student- is fighting against the Donald Trump administration over her deportation following participation in pro-Palestinian protests on the campus. The White House is attempting to deport the 21-year-old despite her lawful permanent resident status.

Yunseo Chung has legally resided in the US since childhood and her deportation is a “shocking overreach” and an “unprecedented and unjustifiable assault” on her rights, her lawyers said in a complaint.

Who Is Yunseo Chung?

Yunseo Chung is originally from South Korea. She is a junior at Columbia University and has resided in America since age seven, when her family immigrated to the country. She became a permanent resident of the US in 2021, according to the lawsuit.

As per the complaint, she participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus since 2023 and was arrested on March 5 while protesting the university’s “excessive punishments” of student activists.

Following this, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed an administrative arrest warrant for Yunseo Chung and attempted to remove her from the country, the New York Times reported.

Her lawsuit said, “ICE’s shocking actions against Chung form part of a larger pattern of attempted US government repression of constitutionally protected protest activity and other forms of speech.”

The Donald Trump government is seeking to “retaliate against and punish noncitizens” who speak out in solidarity with Palestinians, it said, adding, “Ms Chung is challenging (the government’s) pattern and practice of targeting individuals associated with protests for Palestinian rights for immigration enforcement in retaliation for their core protected political speech.”

Other Columbia Students Targeted

Earlier, the Donald Trump administration also targeted Mahmoud Khalil- another Columbia student- for his pro-Palestinian views. Ranjani Srinivasan, a Columbia graduate student from India, fled to Canada after the Department of Homeland Security revoked her student visa.