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jerry nadler
'Bowing Down to Authoritarianism,' Columbia Agrees to Pay $200 Million in Deal With Trump
"Columbia has effectively waived the white flag of surrender in its battle at the heart of the Trump administration's war on higher education and academic freedom," said Rep. Jerry Nadler.
Jul 24, 2025
Columbia University has agreed to pay a $200 million fine and make other significant concessions to the Trump administration in a deal to restore federal grants canceled earlier this year as part of the president's assault on institutions of higher education.
Under the terms of the settlement, which was released Wednesday, Columbia agreed to "conduct a thorough review" of its educational programs "in regional areas across the university, starting with the Middle East"—bowing to the Trump administration's interference in curriculum-related decisions.
Columbia also pledged to "undertake a comprehensive review of its international admissions processes" and "ensure that international student-applicants are asked questions to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States" as the Trump administration—under the guise of combating antisemitism—targets international students who have taken part in Palestinian rights demonstrations.
Earlier this week, Columbia suspended or expelled dozens of students over Gaza-related protests.
Columbia University has handed over its undergraduate admissions process to Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, who will now decide at their sole discretion whether the university has admitted enough white people. It's no longer an independent institution.
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— Kevin Carey (@kevincarey1.bsky.social) Jul 23, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Columbia's deal with the federal government sparked immediate, furious backlash, with critics condemning the university's leaders as "cowards" who are "bowing down to authoritarianism."
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose district includes Columbia, said he was "deeply disappointed" to learn of the university's "outrageous and embarrassing $200 million capitulation to the Trump administration's repugnant extortion campaign."
In response to the Trump administration's claim that the university was violating federal law by failing to protect its Jewish students, Nadler stressed that "no investigation was ever conducted by the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights—the single body charged under federal law with investigating antisemitism on campus." (Columbia did not admit to wrongdoing as part of the agreement.)
"Rather, unlike Harvard, my alma mater has allowed a once highly respected institution to succumb to the Trump administration's coercive and exploitative tactics," Nadler said in a statement. "Columbia has effectively waived the white flag of surrender in its battle at the heart of the Trump administration's war on higher education and academic freedom."
The Columbia Daily Spectator, the university's student newspaper, reported that under its settlement with the Trump administration, the university "agreed to reveal the admissions data of both rejected and admitted students, including their race, GPA, and standardized test performance, to the federal government."
"As part of the deal, the federal government will not institute 'any civil action' against the university and will resume canceled National Institutes of Health and Health and Human Services funding, but does not restore grants from the Department of Education," the Spectator observed. "The university is required to comply with Title VI to maintain the terms of the deal."
Jacob Schriner-Briggs, visiting assistant professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, wrote on social media that the deal represents "a vicious blow to the academic freedom of university employees and students alike" and accused Columbia of "taking its lead from the government as to what questions it will ask international applicants and which 'longstanding traditions' it will ensure all of its students are 'committed to.'"
"This capitulation is indefensible," wrote Schriner-Briggs.
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Velázquez Leads 'No Masks for ICE Act' Rally at NYC Field Office
"When agents hide their faces and identities they create chaos, fear, and open the door to abuse. Immigrant communities are left wondering if they're being arrested or kidnapped."
Jun 28, 2025
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez on Saturday held a rally outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in New York City to promote her recently introduced No Masks for ICE Act.
"We would never accept it if the NYPD operated in masks without names or badges—and we shouldn't accept it from ICE either," Velázquez (D-N.Y.) said in a statement, referring to the New York Police Department.
"When agents hide their faces and identities they create chaos, fear, and open the door to abuse," she continued. "Immigrant communities are left wondering if they're being arrested or kidnapped. That's not how law enforcement should operate in a democracy. This bill is about restoring basic standards and bringing basic transparency and accountability to immigration enforcement."
"If their operations are legitimate and above-board, why is there a need for anonymity, and why don't they need warrants to come onto private property?"
As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works to deliver on Republican President Donald Trump's promise of mass deportations, federal agents, including those with ICE, have taken immigrants into custody while wearing masks and plain clothes—sparking alarm over abuse by anonymous agents and also copycat criminals.
Velázquez's bill would bar ICE agents from wearing facial coverings during immigration enforcement, unless medically necessary or required for safety. It would also require written justification for any mask use, agents to wear clothing displaying their name and affiliation with ICE, and DHS to report annually to Congress on any related complaints and disciplinary actions.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told CBS News on Saturday that masks are optional but that "ICE law enforcement and their families are being targeted and are facing a 500% increase in assaults... due to the demonization of ICE by hostile groups and irresponsible elected officials."
"Politicians and activists must turn the temperature down and tone down their rhetoric," the spokesperson added.
Immigrant rights advocates, legal experts, and Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) also joined the rally. He noted in a statement that "the past few months we've seen a disturbing pattern: masked, plain-clothes agents ambushing immigrants outside courtrooms and on city streets."
"If their operations are legitimate and above-board, why is there a need for anonymity, and why don't they need warrants to come onto private property?" Nadler asked. "This bill will put an end to those intimidation tactics, restore transparency, and ensure the public knows exactly who is wielding federal power in our communities."
Today, outside 26 Federal Plaza, we joined Congress members @velazquez.house.gov + @nadler.house.gov, @thenyic.bsky.social, @legalaidnyc.bsky.social, and allies to spotlight the No Masks for ICE Act to call for immediate federal action to end secretive, unaccountable immigration enforcement.
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— Make the Road NY (@maketheroadny.bsky.social) June 28, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The rally was held at 26 Federal Plaza, a 41-floor building in Lower Manhattan that houses an ICE field office and one of New York City's immigration courts. Earlier this month, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander—then a Democratic mayoral candidate—was arrested by federal agents while escorting a defendant out of immigration court at the building.
On the 10th floor, "there is a holding area where immigration authorities have typically held a few dozen immigrants at a time for a few hours before transferring them to detention centers," The New York Times reported a few days after Lander's arrest. "But as the Trump administration expands its immigration crackdown, the space has become overcrowded and people sleep sprawled on the floor, sometimes for days, according to those who have spent time there."
The Times also noted a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed by nine of the state's Democratic members of Congress—Nadler and Velázquez plus Reps. Yvette Clarke, Adriano Espaillat, Dan Goldman, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ritchie Torres—who want to conduct oversight of the field office, which they argue is a detention facility.
"Congressional oversight is essential to bring transparency to the conduct of the Department of Homeland Security," they wrote. "Given the overaggressive and excessive force used to handcuff and detain elected officials in public, DHS's refusal to allow members of Congress to observe the conditions for immigrants behind closed doors begs the obvious question: What are you hiding?"
Following the introduction of Velázquez's bill, two Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced the No Secret Police Act, which would require all law enforcement officers and DHS agents to clearly display identification and their official badges when detaining or arresting people.
That legislation is led by Goldman and Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and backed by dozens of their Democratic colleagues. Espaillat said that "if you uphold the peace of a democratic society, you should not be anonymous. DHS and ICE agents wearing masks and hiding identification echoes the tactics of secret police authoritarian regimes."
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Jeffries No Match for 'Historic, Fascistic Moment' After Response to DHS Detaining Nadler Aide
"It's terrifying, to be up against what we're up against with leadership this weak," said one critic.
Jun 02, 2025
Two weeks after declaring that the Trump administration's arrest of members of Democratic members of Congress would be a "red line," the top-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House this week was signaling no concrete plan to take action over the Justice Department charging a congresswoman and federal agents detaining a Capitol Hill aide.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) insisted in a Sunday interview with CNN's Dana Bash that party leaders haven't let their "foot off the gas pedal" when asked about Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers briefly detaining an aide to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) last week—but he was short on details of how Democrats plan to hold President Donald Trump's administration accountable.
"In terms of how we will respond to what Trump and the administration has endeavored to do, we will make that decision in a time, place, and manner of our choosing. But the response will be continuous and it will meet the moment that is required," said Jeffries. "In terms of additional things that may take place with respect to our congressional oversight, authority, and capacity, we will respond in a time, place, and manner of our choosing if this continues to happen."
Rights advocate Aaron Regunberg said Jeffries appeared to be "a literal human embodiment of fecklessness" in the interview, which followed outcry in recent months about Democratic leaders' refusal to unequivocally defend detained Columbia University pro-Palestinian organizer Mahmoud Khalil and their insistence that the Democrats should be selective about which Trump policies they fight against.
"It's terrifying, to be up against what we're up against with leadership this weak," said Regunberg.
Jeffries' interview with CNN came days after officers with the Federal Protective Service, part of DHS, entered Nadler's office in Manhattan and handcuffed one of his aides, claiming the staff was "harboring rioters in the office."
Nadler's office is located in the same building as an immigration courtroom where protesters and rights advocates had gathered to speak out against the administration's policy of detaining immigrants when they appear in court for legal proceedings as they are required to, and to advise people that they have a right to remain silent if they're detained.
Courtrooms have typically been treated as sensitive places where immigration agents can't detain people, but Trump has changed that with his mass deportation operation.
A 20-year-old New York City public school student was detained by federal agents at an immigration court last week.
Robert Gottheim, Nadler's chief of staff, told The New York Times that the confrontation between DHS and the aide happened after a member of the congressman's staff invited the immigrant rights advocates into Nadler's office, hoping to deescalate tensions after federal agents accused the advocates of loitering and threatened to arrest them.
Gottheim said the agents were also angry because Nadler's staff had witnessed them arresting migrants who were leaving the courtroom.
DHS released a statement Saturday claiming that agents had been told protesters were in Nadler's office and that they were concerned for the congressional staffers.
"One individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office," said the statement.
A video obtained by Gothamist showed an agent handcuffing a crying aide while another official told one of Nadler's staff members that the agents didn't have or need a warrant for the arrest.
"The Trump administration is trying to intimidate members of Congress," Nadler told the Times on Saturday. "They're behaving like fascists... We have to fight them. We don't want to be a fascist country."
Journalist Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo said Jeffries' response to the incident in Nadler's office made clear he is not "the right person to be leading the Dems in the House in this historic, fascistic moment."
Bash's questioning on Sunday also pertained to the Trump administration's decision to charge Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) with two counts of assault—charges that carry a potential punishment of 16 years in prison—for a clash with immigration officers outside a detention center in Newark.
A joint statement released on May 19 by Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Vice Caucus Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), and Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) vehemently condemned the charges against McIver, but the content was similar to Jeffries' comments on CNN.
"Everyone responsible for this illegitimate abuse of power is going to be held accountable for their actions," said the statement in part. "House Democrats will respond vigorously in the days to come at a time, place, and manner of our choosing."
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