New York
\nUS immigration authorities have announced the arrest of a second activist who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City.
\nLeqaa Kordia, who is a Palestinian and from the West Bank, was arrested in New Jersey, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Friday.
\nThe statement said another student, Ranjani Srinivasani, who has Indian citizenship, chose to \u201cself-deport\u201d by leaving the US earlier this week.
\nThis follows the arrest of Columbia campus activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained on Saturday in New York before being flown to a jail in Louisiana.
\nThe DHS statement says that Ms Kordia had overstayed her student visa, which had been terminated in 2022 \u201cfor lack of attendance\u201d. It did not say whether she had been attending Columbia or another institution.
\nShe had previously been arrested in April 2024 for taking part in protests at Columbia University, according to DHS.
\nMs Srinivasan, a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, had her visa revoked on 5 March.
\n\u201cIt is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America,\u201d said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement.
\n\u201cWhen you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country.\u201d
\nMs Srinivasan\u2019s lawyer Ramzi Kassem told the Wall Street Journal that the government\u2019s statement was \u201cfull of the falsehoods we\u2019ve come to expect of DHS\u201d.
\nMr Kassem told the paper the government \u201cviolated basic rights\u201d by revoking a visa \u201csimply for engaging in protected political speech\u201d.
\nThe BBC contacted a lawyer for Ms Srinivasan for comment on Friday evening.
\nContact details for Mr Kodia\u2019s lawyer were not Immediately available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York US immigration authorities have announced the arrest of a second activist who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City. Leqaa Kordia, who is a Palestinian and from the West Bank, was arrested in New Jersey, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Friday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-467260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n