ICE Duped a Federal Judge Into Allowing Raid on Columbia Student Dorms

by UB Center for Urban Studies · 05/15/2025

As part of the Trump administration’s targeting of Columbia University students for deportation, a high-ranking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent submitted a wildly inaccurate affidavit to a federal judge to get a search warrant, newly unsealed court records show.

The affidavit misstated basic facts and federal law, attorneys told The Intercept, but the judge nonetheless signed off and authorized ICE to search two students’ dorm rooms based on the assertion that Columbia might be “harboring” them in violation of federal law.

Pointing to decisions of the State Department to revoke one student’s visa and the other’s green card, ICE argued they were in the U.S. unlawfully. But neither ICE nor the State Department have the authority to determine whether someone is in the U.S. lawfully; they need an order from an immigration judge first. On top of that, ICE’s affidavit didn’t offer evidence that Columbia took any concrete steps to hide the students, only that university officials refused to let agents on campus to arrest them without judicial warrants.

Shawn Mustgrave May 14, 2025

Read the full story here The Intercept