Mohsen Mahdawi
A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University who was arrested at his US citizenship interview and ordered deported.
Mahdawi, a lawful permanent U.S. resident who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, was among multiple international students facing deportation – ostensibly over their advocacy on several campuses against Israel's war in Gaza.
"I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you," Mahdawi declared outside the Vermont courthouse following his release. "What we are witnessing now and what we're understanding is exactly what Dr. Martin Luther King has said before: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
The detention of Mahdawi, who has been a prominent organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, appears to follow a pattern of similar actions against international students involved in campus protests related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The Justice Department submitted a two-page letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that the "activities and presence of Mahdawi in the United States undermines U.S. policy to combat antisemitism."
Monday's court filing did not provide evidence of the accusations against Mahdawi, including those of threatening rhetoric and intimidation of pro-Israeli bystanders. In response, Mahdawi's lawyer, Luna Droubi, said the accusations in the letter are "completely false" and that "Mr. Mahdawi is a person of complete and full principle who believes in the human dignity of every person."
Mahdawi's case is not isolated. The Trump administration has used similar justifications to detain other international students who participated in campus demonstrations, including Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested March 8, and Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk. Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and Representative Becca Balint called the circumstances of Mahdawi's arrest "immoral, inhumane, and illegal," and demanded his immediate release.
"The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime," U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said at the hearing. "Mr. Mahdawi, I will order you released." Following his release, Judge Crawford ruled that Mahdawi should remain in Vermont, where he has a home, and attend school remotely -- but said Mahdawi can travel to New York City to meet with his lawyers and go to his university.
This case raises critical questions about the balance between national security interests and the academic freedom and First Amendment rights of international students on American campuses engaged in political activism.
