A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a Columbia University student and Palestinian activist who was detained by federal immigration authorities at his naturalization interview in Vermont earlier this month.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a 34-year-old green-card holder, was taken into custody by Department of Homeland Security agents on April 14 while he was attending an interview trying to finalize his U.S. citizenship. Video footage showed plainclothes officers escorting him into a vehicle. Mahdawi, who was born and raised in a West Bank refugee camp, helped lead anti-Israel protests on Columbia’s campus.
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford of Vermont ruled that the Trump administration must release Mahdawi from custody, citing First Amendment concerns and concluding his freedom lies in the public interest.
“His continued detention would likely have a chilling effect on protected speech, which is squarely against the public interest. And continuing to detain him would not benefit the public in any way, as Mahdawi appears not to be either a flight risk or a danger to the community,” Crawford wrote in the 29-page order.
“Finally, Mr. Mahdawi’s release will benefit his community, which appears to deeply cherish and value him,” he said. “The court therefore declines to stay its order pending appeal and instead requires Mr. Mahdawi’s immediate release.”
The judge, however, did provide some conditions for his release. Mahdawi is required to reside in Vermont and attend all court hearings in his case unless excused by the court. He is also permitted to travel to New York to attend Columbia or meet with his lawyers.
Mahdawi recently attended Columbia and planned to return to the Ivy League school this fall to study for a master’s degree, according to his lawyer’s petition for habeas corpus.
The activist co-founded Columbia’s Palestinian Student Union, a coalition of more than 80 anti-Israel student groups, and served on the university’s now-suspended Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. After October 7, 2023, he said he could “empathize” with Hamas in spite of its massacre of 1,200 Israeli citizens.
“I did not say that I justify what Hamas has done. I said I can empathize,” he told 60 Minutes in December 2023. “To empathize is to understand the root cause and to not look at any event or situation in a vacuum.”
Mahdawi’s lawyers argued their client was targeted for deportation solely due to his involvement in anti-Israel advocacy at Columbia, while the Trump administration says the activist engaged in “threatening rhetoric and intimidation” against Jewish students during the campus protests.
To justify Mahdawi’s removal, the State Department is using a provision under the Immigration and Nationality Act that grants Secretary of State Marco Rubio the authority to deport noncitizens if the he determines their presence in the U.S. “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”
Mahdawi is the first international student to be released after being arrested by the Trump administration for deportation.
A high-profile Columbia student, Mahmoud Khalil, still remains detained in Louisiana after an immigration judge in the state allowed his deportation to proceed. Khalil’s lawyers had until April 23 to appeal the decision.
Mahdawi sent a direct message to the Trump administration following his release: “I am not afraid of you.”
“Never give up on the idea that justice will prevail,” he said outside the Vermont courthouse, leading his supporters in “Free Palestine” chants. “We want to stand up for humanity, because the rest of the world — not only Palestine — is watching us. And what is going to happen in America is going to affect the rest of the world.”