Interim University President Katrina Armstrong emailed the Columbia community Thursday night regarding the presence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel on campus. Two judicial warrants granted DHS access to search two students’ rooms in university residence halls. No arrests were made.

On Thursday, March 13, less than one week following Columbia alum Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest, Interim President Katrina Armstrong emailed the Columbia community about Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers on campus. 

Armstrong wrote she was “heartbroken to inform [the Columbia community] that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences tonight. […] No arrests were made and no items were removed.”

The agents were granted access via judicial warrants, which are signed by a judge to authorize searches, seizures, and arrests and which the University is legally required to comply with. These differ from administrative warrants, which are issued and signed by DHS officials and authorize only regulatory searches.

In her email, Armstrong referenced a webpage containing protocol for potential visits to campus by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers (ICE) which include contacting Public Safety, requesting credentials, and not accepting service of a warrant or subpoena. According to protocol, ICE agents are not allowed access to non-public areas such as University dorms without a judicial warrant or subpoena. 

President Armstrong said that the University was “obligated to comply with the law” since “that threshold was met [tonight].”

Armstrong also provided resources for counseling and well-being. 

A few days prior, The New York Times reported that First Amendment lawyer and Columbia Journalism School adjunct professor Stuart Karle told students to “avoid publishing work on Gaza, Ukraine and protests related to their former classmate’s arrest.” 

He told students that “[i]f you have a social media page, make sure it is not filled with commentary on the Middle East.” 

Email to the Columbia Community from Interim President Katrina Armstrong on Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 11:56 pm:

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:
I am writing heartbroken to inform you that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences tonight. No one was arrested or detained. No items were removed, and no further action was taken.
Federal agents from the DHS served Columbia University with two judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge authorizing DHS to enter non-public areas of the University and conduct searches of two student rooms.
The University has a clear protocol in place. Consistent with this protocol, our longstanding practice, and the practices of cities and institutions throughout the country, the University requires that law enforcement have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including residential University buildings. Tonight, that threshold was met, and the University is obligated to comply with the law. Our University Public Safety was present at all times.
Columbia continues to make every effort to ensure that our campus, students, faculty, and staff are safe. Columbia is committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same.
I understand the immense stress our community is under. Despite the unprecedented challenges, Columbia University will remain a place where the pursuit of knowledge is cherished and fiercely protected, where the rule of law and due process is respected and never taken for granted, and where all members of our community are valued and able to thrive. These are the principles we uphold and that guide us every day.
For students in need of support, I’ve included a list of University resources below.
Standing together for Columbia,

Katrina Armstrong
Interim President, Columbia University in the City of New York
Available University Resources:

Authored by Bwog Staff.

Department of Homeland Security via Raw Pixel