As an activist who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University remains in an immigration center in Louisiana, college students across the country are protesting, believing the federal government is violating his First Amendment rights.

Columbia University says it has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests in Spring 2024 and temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students who have since graduated.

The sanctions include multi-year suspensions, expulsions and revoked degrees based on an “evaluation of the severity of behaviors.”

We rallied] to show the Trump administration that we are here and we are going to build a collective power to stand our ground for what is pro-Palestine and pro-immigration,” said a protest organizer.

Khalil’s arrest was to combat antisemitism, the Trump administration said, but students in Charlotte said it was free speech suppression.

Columbia University on Thursday said it had doled out a range of punishments to students who occupied a campus building last spring during pro-Palestinian protests. The announcement came a week after President Donald Trump's administration announced that it had canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts in response to what it said was the Ivy League school's poor response to antisemitism on campus.

Columbia said it had temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.