BREAKING: Columbia President Claire Shipman says DHS agents entered a residential buliding this morning and detained ...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Prem Thakker ツ
‪@premthakker.bsky.social‬
BREAKING: Columbia President Claire Shipman says DHS agents entered a residential buliding this morning and detained a student.

"Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a 'missing person.'"

February 26, 2026
Dear members of the Columbia community:
This morning at approximately
6:30 a.m., federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered a Columbia Residential building and detained a student.
We are working to gather more information, working to reach the family, and providing legal support.
Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a
"missing person." We are working to gather more details.
It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including
ALT

It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access. An administrative warrant is not sufficient.
If law enforcement agents seek entry to non-public areas of the University, ask the agents to wait to enter any non-public areas until contacting Public Safety. Public Safety will contact the Office of the General Counsel to coordinate the University's response. Do not allow them to enter or accept service of a warrant or subpoena.
We will update our community as additional information becomes
available.
Sincerely,
ALT
10:09 AM · Feb 26, 2026

BREAKING: Columbia President Claire Shipman says DHS agents entered a residential buliding this morning and detained a student.

"Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a 'missing person.'"

— Prem Thakker ツ (@premthakker.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T15:09:27.025Z

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

1. Kick

[progressoid]

2. "agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University..."

I suppose that's intended to be good advice.

Of course, that assumes that we can trust the the DHS and their judicial system.

[aggiesal]

4. A judicial warrant or subpoena is signed by a judge, after ICEstapo proves to the judge that there is probable cause ...

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have its own independent judges or court system.
Immigration judges, who handle cases arising from DHS enforcement, are actually employees of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) within the Department of Justice (DOJ)

ICEstapo have a memo that states they don't need a Judicial warrant or subpoena.
They have this nasty habit of showing up with a made up DHS signed document.

Here in California, a Judicial Warrant/Subpeona is required.
Yes, that is good advice.

[progressoid]

5. Right. I didn't mean to imply that they had their own legal system

I was thinking more about their interpretation of the law - even judge shopping to get what they want.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/warrant-immigration-raid-wrongly-sought-via-judge-shopping-texas-judge-says-2025-06-11/

June 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas said the Trump administration sought to "blatantly judge-shop" to evade a ruling he had issued rejecting its request for a warrant that would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to raid a business to detain migrants who are not authorized to work in the U.S.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison in Galveston leveled that claim in an opinion published on Monday, opens new tab in a fight over the ability of immigration authorities to use administrative inspection warrants to conduct roundups of migrants who are in U.S. illegally working at private businesses.

[aggiesal]

6. Thanks for the clarfication. Have a great day. n/t

[orangecrush]

3. Our very own Wagner group

How nice.

[dickthegrouch]

7. How does an ordinary student know what a judicial warrant looks like?

Or who it’s signed by?

There are lists of judges both at the State and federal levels that one can check.
Part of the “Protect yourself” packet should include examples of valid paperwork and current (dated) lists of judges and links for people to check for themselves that those people are still judges.

An even more useful method would be an embedded QR code on valid warrants which goes through an unimpeachable court-system domain name that cannot be subverted by the (republican or) criminal classes.