President Trump is threatening to pull funding from schools that allow what he calls “illegal protests,” as his administration launches a review of Columbia University’s federal contracts. “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump posted on social media on March 4. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS!”
Trump did not specify what would constitute an “illegal” protest. Broadly speaking, the right to protest is protected by the First Amendment of The United States Constitution. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, also known as FIRE, condemned Trump’s announcement. “Colleges can and should respond to unlawful conduct, but the president does not have unilateral authority to revoke federal funds, even for colleges that allow ‘illegal’ protests,” the statement said.
The First Amendment of The U.S. Constitution protects the right to peaceful assembly, allowing individuals to protest in public spaces such as streets, sidewalks and parks. However, certain actions can render a protest unlawful. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), individuals may not block access to sidewalks or buildings, disrupt counter protests, or engage in speech that is obscene, makes knowingly false statements of fact or incite immediate violence or dangerous disturbances. In some areas, permits are required for large gatherings that obstruct vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
Tensions have remained high at Columbia University after pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up encampments last year on the university lawn. Some took over a building on campus, prompting the NYPD to make hundreds of arrests. The university canceled its main commencement ceremony, and the university president, who had been called to testify before Congress, stepped down.
It’s been a tumultuous week at Columbia as the Trump administration has already canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the school, claiming that Columbia failed to police antisemitism on campus in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last spring, National Public Radio (NPR) reports.
The high-profile arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, who was involved in those protests, continues to keep the school in the public eye. President Trump on social media described Khalil as “a radical foreign pro-Hamas” student who engaged in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.” His detention, Trump warned, “is the first arrest of many to come.”
The Trump administration also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen and doctoral student at Columbia, for allegedly “advocating for violence and terrorism.” Srinivasan opted to “self-deport” on March 11, five days after her visa was revoked, AP News reports.
While Columbia and its students have been targeted so far, concerns extend far beyond the Ivy League school. College students and educators across the US are closely watching the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on campus protests.
Caption: United States President Donald Trump at the 2025 Address to the Nation on March 5, 2025, photo taken from WikiMediaCommons.
