Secretary McMahon urges Columbia to be more careful about admitting foreign students who might be terrorism supporters
‘We talked about making sure that some of the students were vetted before they were admitted [for] if they did have [a] terrorist background, and I’m not saying any of them did,’ McMahon said.
The Trump administration has initiated deportation efforts against several students whom it accuses of supporting terrorism.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon recently spoke to the leadership of Columbia University in New York, urging interim President Katrina Armstrong to more thoroughly vet international students who might be supporters of terrorism.
McMahon told The Daily Caller on Tuesday that she and Armstrong spoke about the issue, calling on the Ivy League university to show good judgment in which students it allows to be admitted to the school.
“We talked about making sure that some of the students were vetted before they were admitted [for] if they did have [a] terrorist background, and I’m not saying any of them did, but these are the kinds of things that we talked about,” McMahon stated. “And I do believe also that there are faculty who come on board at Columbia who might also be more inclined to encourage that kind of activity on campus.”
“There was one teaching assistant who had dismissed class [a previous day] that said, ‘please go join the protest,’” McMahon continued.
Several Columbia students who engaged in anti-Israel activism at the school are facing potential deportation or have already left the country.
One individual, Columbia doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan, came to the U.S. on a student visa and subsequently became “involved in activities supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“The Department of Homeland Security has obtained video footage of [Srinivasan] using the CBP Home App to self-deport on March 11,” the department announced.
Another Columbia student, Leqaa Kordia, who previously participated in pro-Hamas protests, was arrested “for overstaying her expired F-1 student visa.”
Anti-Israel demonstrators have remained active at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, recently vandalizing Armstrong’s residence.
Columbia has also been at the center of a controversy involving Mahmoud Khalil, a former student known for his anti-Israel activism, whom the Trump administration is attempting to deport.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University and the Department of Education for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
