President Donald Trump’s administration is facing a new lawsuit claiming that the administration’s threat to keep federal funds from Columbia University in hundreds of millions of dollars is illegal.
The American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit Tuesday with the American Association of University Professors, claiming that the Trump administration is “trying to integrate power over higher education.”
“This action overwhelms the academic autonomy of the university and challenges the Trump administration’s illegal and unprecedented efforts to control the thoughts, associations, scholarships and expressions of its faculty and students,” the lawsuit reads.
“The Trump administration is forcing Columbia University to regulate speech and expression on campus by holding billions of hostages in federal funds approved by Congress, providing essential funding to ensure that the American university system is responsible for and secures its position as a global leader in scientific, medical and technical research.
The video shows the arrest of Colombian anti-Israel ring leader Mahmoud Khalil
The anti-Israel agitator performed the camp on the Columbia University campus. (Getty Images)
The lawsuit comes after Colombian administrators agreed to enact a drastic change to their student protest policy and conduct a review of the Middle East Research Division.
The Trump administration threatened to withhold about $400 million if no changes were made.
Pro-Israel influencers say New York’s Vivas Memorial was anti-Semitic and “produced the worst”
President Donald Trump’s administration threatened Columbia University’s funding cuts if it did not reform its protest policy. (Fox News/Special Report)
Ivy League schools agreed to ban masks with the aim of concealing their identity, granting 36 campus police officers new authority to arrest students, and appointing a senior assistant department with broad authority to oversee research centres in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.
A source familiar with the negotiations told Fox News that meeting the demands does not mean Columbia will reclaim its $400 million in funding, but that is a prerequisite for holding the talk.
Maria McQuiber, executive director of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), spoke on Monday during an “emergency vigil” outside Columbia University’s gate suburb to protest recent policy changes. (Fox)
The lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday asks the court to require the Trump administration to revive “all grants and contracts with Columbia University.”
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It also urges the courts to prohibit the Trump administration from making further funding cuts, causing damage to plaintiffs.
Louis Casiano of Fox News contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter for Fox News Digital, covering national politics and major broken news events. Submit your tip to anders.hagstrom@fox.com or via Twitter: @hagstrom_anders.
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