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Several students have been arrested or forced to deport themselves after US President Donald Trump launched a crackdown against pro-Palestinian students protesting against the Israel's genocidal war on Gaza that has so far killed over 50,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The war on Gaza started after Gaza based group Hamas launched a shock attack on Southern Israel killing 1200 people in October 7, 2023. Since Israel launched the bombing campaign in Gaza, there were protests across US Universities protesting against the massacre in Gaza. However, things changed after Donald Trump assumed power in January 2025 and begin a crackdown on all pro-Palestinian activists and groupings. The Trump crackdown have affected many students including many Indians like Badar Khan Suri and Ranjani Srinivasan.
Let's have a look at students facing the heat over Donald Trump's deportation threat.
Ranjani Srinivasan: The 37-year-old Indian student at Columbia University had to self-deport after her student visa was revoked. She was pursuing her Phd in urban planning at Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University. The Trump administration cancelled her F1 student visa after she was accused of being involved in pro-Palestinian protests at the University campus. She then took a last minute flight to Canada and has been there since then. Ranjani Srinivasan is a resident of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Ranjani had a cat called 'cricket' which she left behind to a friend. There are around 331,602 Indian students studying in different US universities and form the biggest international student population in the US.
Badar Khan Suri: The postdoctoral student at Georgetown University was detained by immigration authorities on March 17 on the same charges that he was part of pro-Palestinians protests and aided Hamas propaganda. Badar Khan is an Indian student studying religious cooperation in ethnically diverse regions. Badar Khan enrolled at the university in 2022 at Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU). Khan's wife is also a Georgetown graduate student, who is of Palestinian origin and holds US citizenship. Badar Khan is from Delhi and did his Phd in in peace and conflict studies from Jamia Millia Islamia's Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution.
Mahmoud Khlail: The Columbia University student is a Syrian born permanent resident of the United States and is married to a US citizen. Donald Trump administration has been adamant on deporting Khalil after his alleged involvement in the pro-Palestinian protests in the US. The 30-year-old student was arrested by US authorities from his university-owned apartment building in New York. Since his arrest, Khalil's deportation is mired in legal tangles as US court stayed his immediate deportations.
Rumeysa Ozturk: Anotjer student detained by US authorities is a Turkish national named Rumeysa Ozturk, who is pursuing her doctoral studies at Tufts University. She was also accused of being involved in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's war on Gaza. Arrest of several student activists have raised concerns over the restrictions on freedom of speech in the United States.
