12 arrested as protesters rally against ICE in front of Columbia University
- Karissa Song
- 16 hours ago
- 5 min read
Amid a nationwide increase in ICE activity, the NYPD arrested protesters calling for the University to “end its complicity with ICE” on Thursday.
Photo by Gabriela Valentin/The Barnard Bulletin
By Karissa Song
February 8, 2026
In response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) increased activity across the nation, which led to the fatal shootings of two American citizens, Sunrise Columbia organized an “ICE OFF CAMPUS” rally in front of Columbia University on February 5.
“ICE raids terrorizing communities nationwide didn’t happen overnight—they were built with the support of institutions like Columbia who collaborated with ICE to kidnap student protestors.” Sunrise Columbia wrote in a statement on Instagram, “we demand Columbia establish itself as a sanctuary campus and end its complicity with ICE.”
In 2025, ICE detained several Columbia affiliates, including Mahmoud Khalil (SIPA ’24), Yunseo Chung (CC ’26), and Mohsen Madawi (GS ’25). Over the past few weeks, thousands of protesters marched throughout New York City to protest ICE.
Prior to Columbia Sunrise’s protest, NYPD officers began setting up barricades outside of Columbia’s gates on 116th and Broadway. Over a hundred protesters wearing black shirts that demanded a “sanctuary campus now” gathered, chanting, “We want justice, we want peace, we want ICE off the streets.”
“ICE took our neighbors, we want them back,” a Columbia faculty member who spoke about the intent of the rally stated. “The Trump administration, in collaboration with Columbia University, facilitated the targeting [of] institutions of our peers.”
She concluded, “It is our duty to speak out, to resist, and to fight for those who are being targeted and harmed.”
Protesters continued to chant, “Claire Shipman, you repress. You’re a friend to DHS [Department of Homeland Security],” while handing out fliers and newspapers by CHALLENGE, a paper published by the Progressive Labor Party.
At around 2:12 p.m., a second speaker who identified themselves as an organizer with the Student Workers of Columbia detailed how, “when ICE came for Mohsen and Mahmoud, [Columbia] said nothing.”
“We are bargaining with the University over a new contract, and if Columbia meets our demands, what happened to Ranjani will not happen to another student worker ever again,” they stated.
Ranjani Srinivasan was an international student at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Hours before Mahmoud Khalil was detained, ICE also showed up at Srinivasan’s apartment after her visa was unexpectedly revoked, causing her to flee to Canada. Srinivasan was reportedly not an activist nor involved with any on-campus demonstrations.
The speaker shared their demands, calling for “Columbia [to] become a sanctuary campus again … cease all information sharing with the federal government and destroy all surveillance records … ensure academic continuity, and provide legal services to any affiliate that is targeted by ICE.”
Another speaker introduced as a “representative from the students most vulnerable to ICE,” started off with a quote referring to the massacre of students in Tlatelolco by the Mexican government in October 1968.
“After what happened in Tlatelolco, my friends and I will take stones and sticks, and if we find a grenadier or soldier, we’ll get ’em,” the speaker read.
The speaker then urged protesters to “take up [their] stones and sticks — whether that is taking to the street … [or] taking part in the strike, like the general strike in Minnesota.”
“For those of you who cannot, will not, who believe they are unable to take stones and sticks, must ask themselves why not, must ask themselves what it will take for them to be ready, to lose career, their education, even their lives for the cause,” they concluded.
Darializa Avila Chevalier (CC ’16), a candidate for Congress in NY-13, criticized how “Columbia has a long history, long before any of us were students or faculty, of engaging with oppressive behavior against its students and faculty.”
“We needed to build a movement that was meaningfully pushing back on ICE and the Federal Government and the fascist takeover,” Chevalier stated. “That’s [why it is] so important to see so many of you come out again and again and again, because it’s really going to take all of us to push back on these institutions, to push back on our government, and to create the world we all deserve.”
Two protesters held a banner that said “From Turtle Island to Palestine, we remember all missing and murdered indigenous women.”
A fifth speaker, Edafe Okporo, who previously ran for District 7 City Council, recalled how ICE detained him for over five months after he migrated to the United States as an asylum seeker in 2016.
“Columbia has shown itself to be a collaborator to ICE,” he stated. “International students are terrified. We want to build a safe community, but Columbia has refused to ensure that students and the larger community feel a sense of safety.”
“As a community member, I refuse to accept Columbia acting as a collaborator creating a climate of fear,” Okporo said. “We must educate our neighbors about their rights … and demand policies that prioritize humanity over deportation.”
Three others spoke after Okporo, including Eli Northrup, a candidate for New York State Assembly District 69, and the second speaker, returning to emphasize Columbia’s “total moral failure” and that “the Palestine exception is being made into the norm for all of us.”
Photo by Gabriela Valentin/The Barnard Bulletin
Demonstrators moved to occupy the Broadway and 116th Street intersection, blocking the road and stopping vehicle traffic. NYPD officers moved the barricades to the sidewalk, demanding protesters stay off the street.
After the eighth and final speech from a Teachers College faculty member, roughly 15 protesters stood in the middle of the street. Officers warned protesters to “get off the street if you’re not willing to be arrested.”
In response, a dozen demonstrators sat on the ground, holding a banner demanding justice for multiple individuals who died in ICE detention, including Leo Cruz-Silva, Nhon Ngoc Nguyen, and Maksym Chernak.
After the protesters remained seated in the road for half an hour, the NYPD brought out zip ties and issued another warning, informing protesters that they would be arrested if they did not leave the street. Dozens of officers from the NYPD, Columbia Public Safety, and the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group arrived at the scene.
A NYPD pre-recorded announcement repeated on a speaker, addressing the sitting individuals after multiple warnings.
“Since you have refused to leave the roadway, you will be placed under arrest on the charge of disorderly conduct,” the announcement stated. “If you do not cooperate and accompany the arresting officer to the prisoner transport vehicle or if you resist arrest, you may be charged with additional crimes.”
At 3:50 p.m., after multiple warnings, 12 protesters occupying the street were arrested by NYPD officers using zip ties. Onlooking protesters yelled, “shame!”
Around 4:05 p.m., protesters dispersed, chanting, “we will be back.”
The University later released a statement saying that the “claims made against the University during today’s protest activity” were “factually incorrect.”
“As we made clear repeatedly, no member of Columbia’s leadership or the board of trustees has ever requested the presence of ICE agents on or near campus,” the statement read. “This is a false assertion.”