Trump to review visa status of protesters arrested in Columbia University library takeover

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on May 8, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — Donald Trump officials vowed Thursday to review the visa statuses of 80 pro-Palestinian protesters taken into custody during a takeover of a Columbia University library.

“We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X. “Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”

Acting Columbia University President Claire Shipman authorized the NYPD to enter campus after the swarm of masked protesters showed up at the library and forced their way inside Wednesday.

Cops were seen escorting out dozens of protesters in zip ties who school officials said were not enrolled in the school and were trespassing.

Of the 80 protesters arrested, two were given summonses while the rest were given desk appearance tickets to appear in court at a later date. They were hit with a variety of charges including disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration.

Shipman attributed the decision to allow NYPD officers on campus to the large number of protesters. Two Columbia security officers were injured as protesters forced their way inside the building.

“Requesting the presence of the NYPD is not the outcome we wanted, but it was absolutely necessary to secure the safety of our community,” Shipman wrote. “Disruptions to our academic activities will not be tolerated and are violations of our rules and policies; this is especially unacceptable while our students study and prepare for final exams.”

Videos on social media showed the activists, who wore masks, pushing through security at the entrance of Butler, the main campus library, shortly after 3 p.m., steps away from where students pitched a tent demonstration last year.

The protesters played drums and posted signs and stickers to free Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia grad who has been detained by federal immigration authorities.

The main protest group on campus, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, on Wednesday reveled in their ability to pull off the disruption, despite a crackdown on student activists. Last month, an effort to repitch a tent encampment was averted after NBC News publicized their plans.

“Despite Columbia’s transformation of the university into a dystopian site of surveillance through its carceral expansion of cameras, wifi and ID tracking, externally contracted security, disciplinary processes, and arresting power for Public Safety officers, it still failed to quell the student movement. Students outsmarted the university, exposing the cracks in their broken system,” the group said in a statement.

“Students know that resisting genocide is their moral imperative, and history is on their side.”

Mayor Eric Adams condemned the protesters by making a plea to their parents on live television Wednesday.

“Parents, if your children are going to Columbia campus and participate in this, I think you should reach out to them,” Adams said on NBC 4. “This is not what you do on the college campus, particularly going inside a library and protesting in this manner. We are in engagement with the college.”

Columbia finals begin on Friday.

--------