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A commission of<\/span> top United Nations human rights watchdogs sent a series of blistering letters to the heads of five U.S. universities raising sharp concerns over the treatment of pro-Palestine students, The Intercept has learned.<\/p>\n The letters, which were sent on October 14 to the presidents and provosts of Columbia<\/a>, Cornell<\/a>, Georgetown<\/a>, Minnesota<\/a> State, and Tufts<\/a> universities, called out school officials and U.S. law enforcement agencies for cracking down on student protesters and subsequently using immigration authorities to single out foreign students for detention and deportation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are highly concerned over reports that students were arrested, suspended, and expelled, and lost their university accommodation, campus access, and their immigration status merely because of assembling peacefully to express their solidarity with victims of the conflict in Gaza,\u201d wrote the group of U.N. special rapporteurs, independent experts who monitor human rights violations. \u201cWe fear that such pressure and public attacks on scholars and institutions can result in repression of free expression and in self-censorship, thus damaging academic freedom and the autonomy of universities.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The letters suggest the international body has taken notice of domestic protest repression on U.S. campuses. Since President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration has weaponized <\/a>immigration authorities against international students<\/a> and investigations over alleged antisemitism<\/a> at universities across the country \u2014 ratcheting up a crackdown on student protests for Palestine that began under former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n The letter to Columbia highlighted the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil<\/a>, Mohsen Mahdawi<\/a>, and Leqaa Kordia<\/a>, as well as the attempted arrest of Yunseo Chung<\/a>. (Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n
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