Columbia junior Yunseo Chung, facing deportation, engaged in ‘concerning conduct’, claims Trump administration (Pic credit: X)

A Columbia University junior who filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent her deportation has been accused of engaging in “concerning conduct,” including being arrested at an anti-Israel protest earlier this month, according to the department of homeland security (DHS).
Yunseo Chung, 21, a women’s studies major, immigrated to the United States from South Korea with her family as a child. On March 5, she was arrested at a sit-in protest at Barnard College, charged with obstructing governmental administration, and issued a desk appearance ticket by the New York Police Department (NYPD).
“Yunseo Chung has engaged in concerning conduct, including when she was arrested by NYPD during a pro-Hamas protest at Barnard College,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
The protest was in response to the expulsion of two students who had disrupted a Columbia University class on modern Israel in January, distributing antisemitic fliers.
Despite her legal efforts to halt the deportation proceedings, Chung remains at risk of removal. “She is being sought for removal proceedings under the immigration laws,” McLaughlin added. “Chung will have an opportunity to present her case before an immigration judge.”
Chung’s legal representatives argue that the government’s actions are aimed at suppressing her free speech rights. “The government’s retaliation against Ms Chung comes in a broader context of retaliation against other noncitizens who have exercised their First Amendment rights,” her legal team said in a statement.
A former high school valedictorian, Chung also served as a social media editor for Quarto, Columbia University’s official undergraduate literary magazine. As of Monday, she was not in federal custody.