She was set to graduate from Columbia in May. Then ICE came knocking

Here & Now Anytime

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4.6 • 911 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

Ranjani Srinivasan was an international Columbia University student finishing up her doctoral program in urban planning. But then ICE came knocking on her door, as a result of President Trump's recent crackdown on foreign nationals who took part in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. Srinivasan talks about the circumstances that led to her fleeing to Canada. Then, President of Mount Holyoke College Danielle Holley talks about the Trump administration's attempts to punish conduct, thinking and research at universities that the White House finds objectionable. And, the U.S. carried out strikes on targets controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen over the weekend, killing dozens. Security analyst Jim Walsh joins us to talk about what the strikes signal for U.S. relations with Iran. Plus, the March Madness college basketball tournament gets underway this week. The Gist's Lauren Tuiskula shares a preview.

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0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at MathWorks.com.
0:17.6	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:22.7	The Trump administration wants to deport people it claims are terrorist sympathizers,
0:28.8	including students who attend protests.
0:31.8	When I showed up at my door and the International Students' Office stopped reaching out to me.
0:40.0	I realized that I'm not going to get any answers.
0:46.7	Why one Columbia University student had to flee to Canada just a few months shy of finishing her PhD.
0:49.8	Music It's Monday, March 17th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WVR.
1:06.2	I'm Chris Bentley.
1:09.5	Today on the show, the U.S. escalated its undeclared war in Yemen over the weekend,
1:15.3	bombing military targets, but also residential areas, and setting up a broader confrontation with Iran.
1:22.8	We will hold not only the Houthi's accountable, but we're going to hold Iran their backers accountable as
1:29.1	well. Also, we'll get the lay of the land for the NCAA basketball tournament. Yes, it's
1:35.8	almost spring and March Madness is in the air. But first, green cards, student visas, and what many free speech advocates see as the Trump
1:51.8	administration's criminalization of protests. Last week, we reported on the arrest of
1:57.6	Mahmoud Khalil, a grad student at Columbia University, and lawful permanent resident
2:02.7	of the United States, who was detained by Homeland Security, apparently for participating in protests
2:08.6	against Israel's war in Gaza. The Trump administration wants to revoke his green card and deport him,
2:15.9	even though it has not charged him with a crime. His fight is now
2:19.8	playing out in federal court, but he's not the only Columbia student they're going after. Ranjani
2:26.0	Shrinivasan was set to get her Ph.D. in urban planning in May, but then ICE came knocking.
	...

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