ICE detains Columbia University student in housing and governor criticizes: ‘They lied to get access’

Trump administration announces withdrawal of ICE agents from Minnesota Agents from the United States Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) detained a Columbia University student in a residence hall there this Thursday (26). ✅ Follow g1’s international news channel on WhatsApp Doubled contingent, less training time and MAGA ads: how are ICE agents recruited by the Trump administration? According to a statement released by the university’s interim president, Claire Shipman, the arrest took place around 6:30 am and ICE agents gained access to the student residence by offering false information. They claimed to be looking for a missing person. “To date, we understand that federal agents provided false information to gain access to the building and search for a missing person,” Shipman said, clarifying that law enforcement agents need a court warrant or subpoena to enter non-public areas of the university. The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, where the Columbia campus is located, also criticized ICE’s conduct in a post on social media Initial plugin text Sought by the Reuters news agency to comment on the allegations, the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security has not yet responded to requests for comment. Columbia students have previously taken issue with Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies. About a year ago, after pro-Palestinian protests held on campus, some of them were detained, such as student leader Mahmoud Khalil. ICE is the target of criticism from a large part of Americans The brutal attitude of ICE agents during operations has reduced public support for Trump’s immigration policy in recent months. Episodes such as the death of two American citizens in Minneapolis, in January, and the arrest of people without criminal records, including families and children, have provoked protests and confrontation with residents of the cities where the operations are being sent. According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, a majority of Americans share President Donald Trump’s view that immigrants living in the United States illegally should be deported, but disapprove of his hard-line tactics. Also on Thursday, Reuters reported that ICE is struggling to keep up with the pace of screening its new hires and is establishing a process to deal with allegations of misconduct by new recruits. An internal email, sent to supervisors in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division on Monday and obtained by the news agency, says that the “large volume of new hires” and the delay in background checks could create uncertainty for field offices when allegations arise regarding actions prior to joining ICE, and that the allegations should be forwarded to the Internal Integrity Investigations Unit. “If a field office receives derogatory information about a newly hired employee’s conduct prior to joining ERO (e.g., dismissal or resignation in lieu of dismissal from another law enforcement agency for misconduct), refer the matter to the IIU,” the statement reads. The US Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said in January it had hired 12,000 new agents to add to the 10,000 already in place. The rapid pace of recruitment and hiring has raised questions about the selection and quality of recruits. In a letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last year, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin stated that the increase in the number of ICE agents “would likely result in an increase in agent misconduct.” According to a current employee and a former US government employee, interviewed on condition of anonymity by Reuters, some recruits already in training were dismissed after their criminal pasts were discovered. In one case last year, two recruits were reportedly identified as suspected members of the MS-13 gang based on their tattoos while attending the training academy in Georgia. At least five other recruits were reportedly fired when ICE discovered there were outstanding arrest warrants for them. “They were not completing background checks before candidates arrived at the academy,” the former employee said. According to the administration official, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller pushed hard in conference calls for ICE to reach ambitious hiring goals before the end of the year. Department that runs ICE is the target of impasse in Congress ICE agent during operation in Minneapolis, on January 18, 2026 REUTERS/Seth Herald This is not the only issue that the Trump administration is having to face at the moment in relation to its anti-immigration campaign. The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entered a partial shutdown on the 14th, after congressmen failed to reach an agreement on changes to the rules governing immigration agents. The impasse revolves around opposition proposals to impose new restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations. Both work in immigration inspection and border security. Some employees considered “non-essential” were automatically placed on leave. Democrats, who oppose Donald Trump’s government, want federal immigration agents to follow rules similar to those applied to local police officers in operations. This would bring clearer limits on approaches, arrests and operations. Among the proposals is the requirement that agents remove masks used during searches and arrests of immigrants. The use of these masks sparked protests after operations considered aggressive in cities like Minneapolis. Trump’s Republicans claim that the changes would put agents at risk. The president criticized Democrats and said that it is necessary to “protect security forces”, including ICE. VIDEOS: most watched on g1

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