We are afraid that the United States will deport us for protesting at the University against the war in Gaza

Protests, arrests, confrontations with the police, classes and graduations suspended. The wave of protests over the war in Gaza spreads across American university campuses.

But Alejandra and Mario, students at Columbia University in New York and activists in favor of the Palestinian cause, decided to abandon the demonstrations. They are afraid that their greatest dream, that of studying at one of the best universities in the world, will disappear because they are in one of the demonstrations.

Alejandra and Mario were born in Mexico, but lived almost their entire lives in the US. They crossed the border when they were children and since then they have not been able to leave the country: they are undocumented, but they can lead an almost normal life in the US.

They both come from low-income families, with single mothers who really struggled to make ends meet. But that was not an impediment for them to study at Columbia, thanks to scholarships that pay not only the tuition of US$90,000 per year but also the cost of living there. And they do not require documentation to prove their immigration status in the country. That could change if police arrest them for protesting.

“We are even afraid of being around the camp”

Alejandra and Mario are not their real names, but when speaking with BBC Mundo they preferred not to identify themselves for fear of reprisals. Alejandra, 21 years old, studies Religion and Political Science. Mario, 22, studies Astrophysics.

After Hamas' incursion into Israeli territory on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza, these two friends joined the protests and participated in the camp that formed on campus to condemn Israel's response, which they consider disproportionate.

The Hamas attack killed at least 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and took another 253 to Gaza as hostages. Dozens of them remain captive. That attack sparked a war in Gaza, during which more than 34,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military response.

Activists protest, among other things, US support for Israel and the university's relationship with companies linked to the military sector. A week ago, when the protests intensified and after the harsh response of the university management to demobilize the activists, they stopped doing so because they are afraid of being arrested and that this would automatically lead to their deportation.

School authorities called the police and more than 100 protesters were arrested on April 18 for camping without permission. Later, protesters returned to the area with more tents and banners in a clear gesture of defiance that has spread to other universities in the country.

“It is too dangerous, we are even afraid to be around the camp even if we want to support them. It is even dangerous for us to bring them food, blankets, a charger for their phone, whatever,” says Alejandra.

“It's not the fault of those who are protesting, they are not doing anything, but it is the university administration that scares us so much,” she says.

Mario says that the suspended students of one of the faculties were expelled from the residences and that they were given only 15 minutes to grab their things, something reported on Tuesday by the student newspaper Columbia Spectator.

“If I get suspended, I would have nowhere to go and I can't get a job to pay the bills. And if they didn't let me return to Columbia, it would be super difficult to find another university where I could finish my degree and that would pay me everything like they pay me now,” says Alejandra.

“I talked to my mother and she told me not to get involved because if I am arrested, the first thing that is going to happen to me is that they are going to deport me,” she says.

“Not even our friends let us go, because then the police stop you to search your backpack, and if they find you suspicious, they take you to the station. If that happens to me, they will deport me too,” adds Mario.

“For a week I haven't gone to the libraries because I have to go around the camp,” she says. I don't want to be stopped either, because it's scary,” says Mario.

“We cannot express our ideas”

The White House said Wednesday that US President Joe Biden supports free speech on campuses, but these students believe there is no such thing today at Columbia.

“We cannot express our ideas, our opinions, our support to other students. If not even the students who do have documentation can do it, let alone us,” says Alejandra. They are both disappointed because they believe their university has betrayed some of the values that made them choose to go to Columbia.

Activist groups have expressed that they believe that Columbia University has investments in companies with interests in Israel and that is why they have tried to discourage the demonstrations.

A committee that advises the university on socially responsible investing rejected these criticisms earlier this year, saying there was a lack of consensus in the Columbia community on the issue. The university alleges that the protesters have gone against the institution's rules, and that after several attempts at demobilization, it called the police.

“Our criticism is of the Israeli government”

On Columbia University's main campus, Jewish students expressed concern about what they feel is a hostile environment toward them, with some saying they feel neither safe nor welcome there. They say that, before the journalists arrived in recent days, they heard chants and slogans that they interpret as “anti-Semitic.”

“I'm afraid to wear my kippah,” a Jewish student told BBC journalist Bernd Debusmann Jr on the university campus.

A rabbi associated with Columbia sent a message to Jewish students this week in which he asked them to return home until the situation improves. But protesters argued that the incidents of harassment of Jewish students had been exceptional and exaggerated by those who opposed his claim.

University president Nemat Shafik has said she will not allow anti-Semitic slogans. Mario and Alejandra argue that they are not anti-Semitic but anti-Zionist, that is, they are against the idea of establishing a home for the Jewish people in Palestinian territory.

Our criticism “has nothing to do with a religion, but with the government and the country,” says Alejandra.