On Thursday, Ilhan Omar's daughter returned to Columbia's campus under the protection of her Congresswoman mother to support her fellow anti-Israel protesters as the clock is ticking down on the university and protesters' deadline to agree to end the encampment.
However, school officials admitted they were no closer to deciding on the encampment's removal from campus.
The far-left "Squad" member (D-MN), with the 21-year-old Isra Hirsi, took pictures and cheered the protesters who had set up dozens of tents near the center of the Morningside Heights campus.
The high-profile visit took place just hours before a Friday morning deadline for Columbia officials and protesters to agree on a deal over dismantling the tent city, which a school official did not mention during a press conference on Thursday night.
"To underscore, we have our demands, they have theirs. A formal process is underway and continues," Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president of communications, said.
Chang added that, as President Shafik said, they hope these discussions will be successful. He noted that if they are not, they will have to consider options for restoring calm to campus.
Furthermore, he claimed that a small group of school faculty and officials had contacted student organizers to discuss the basis for dismantling the encampment, dispersing, and following university policies going forward.
Hirsi, a junior at Barnard College, the historically women's institution affiliated with Columbia, was among the more than 100 protesters arrested last Thursday during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Morningside Heights campus.
In an interview, Hirsi expressed her frustration about being expelled from her dorm and prohibited from entering the school to participate in the protest after school officials advised students to leave.
Columbia officials said they have strictly regulated access to campus following the protests, so it is unclear how Hirsi was allowed to return.
Days after the high-profile arrests, Omar expressed that she was "enormously proud" of her daughter on X, formerly Twitter. She also boasted in an interview that her friends referred to her as the 'PC police.'
