Mahdawi, a legal resident of the US who had been a leading figure in Gaza protests at Columbia University last year, was detained on April 14 while attending a naturalization interview in Vermont.
Columbia University student activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, was freed from federal custody by a court order on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he was detained by immigration officials.
In the release order, US District Court Judge Geoffrey W Crawford said Mahdawi has a “substantial claim that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees.”
Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia student leader detained by ICE, has been released!
After two weeks of pressure from people across the US and beyond, the campaign worked. pic.twitter.com/YO2jaiZMan
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) April 30, 2025
Mahdawi, 34, a legal resident of the US who had been a leading figure in pro-Palestine protests at Columbia last year, was detained on April 14 while attending a naturalization interview in Vermont.
A cheering crowd of supporters welcomed him as he walked out of the court, raising his hands in a victory sign.
‘Hold Constitution Accountable’
Addressing the crowd, Mahdawi sent a “clear and loud” message to the American administration, saying, “To President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you.”
He also said “Me standing here with you, among you, it sends a message … not only to the Vermonters, but to the rest of America. And the message is, we the people will hold the Constitution accountable for the principles and values that we believe in.”
Mohsen Mahdawi was just released. The judge who ordered his release compared the crackdown on student activists to the Red Scare and McCarthyism. The response to this intimidation must be this: we are not afraid of you, and will not rest until all of our prisoners are free. pic.twitter.com/mtwskegLyt
— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman) April 30, 2025
Mahdawi added that “we send a clear message as well that if we have faith in our beliefs…that justice is inevitable, we will not fear anyone because our fight is a fight for love, is a fight for democracy, is a fight for humanity.”
He also said: “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom, and it is very soon.”
Claims of Undermining US Policy
In court filings on Monday, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Mahdawi’s activities and presence in the US “undermine US policy to combat antisemitism,” according to the Guardian. In addition, it was claimed, his activities could “potentially undermine the peace process underway in the Middle East”.
Mahdawi’s legal representatives said the claims against him “are baseless” and “without evidence.”
Wow. Judge’s words as he freed Mohsen Mahdawi:
–Yes, Mohsen’s a peaceful figure—but he has rights even if he were a “firebrand”
–People are being targeted like the Red Scare & McCarthyism. “The wheel of history has come around again, but as before these times of excess will pass” https://t.co/hDdYcKm8Tp pic.twitter.com/9isc3ZYMQZ— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) April 30, 2025
“Mohsen has committed no crime, and the government’s only supposed justification for holding him in prison is the content of his speech, Lia Ernst, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing Mahdawi, said in a statement following his release.
The ACLU statement noted that after Mahdawi was detained, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “attempted to put him on a plane to Louisiana, but a temporary restraining order issued by Judge William K. Sessions III compelled the government to keep Mr. Mahdawi in Vermont.”
‘Advocacy for Palestinian Lives’
The Trump administration is seeking to deport Mahdawi, who was born and raised in the occupied West Bank. Due to graduate from Columbia in May, Mahdawi has been a lawful permanent resident of the US who has lived in Vermont for ten years, ACLU said.
BREAKING: Palestinian Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi has been released after two weeks in ICE detention.
Trump ordered him deported despite no charges and his permanent legal status.
Outside court, Mahdawi speaks out: “To Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you.” pic.twitter.com/CXjCNIhnrX
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) April 30, 2025
“The court’s order to free Mohsen today is a victory for Mohsen, in his just pursuit of continued advocacy for Palestinian lives, and it is a victory for all people in this country invested in their ability to dissent and speak and protest for causes they are morally drawn to,” said Shezza Abboushi Dallal, staff attorney with CLEAR.
“We will continue our legal battle for Mohsen until his constitutional rights are fully vindicated,” Dallal added.
Judge Crawford reportedly noted that the court “also considers the extraordinary setting of this case and others like it. Legal residents—not charged with crimes or misconduct—are being arrested and threatened with deportation for stating their views on the political issues of the day.”
Other Arrests
Mahdawi is the ninth Columbia University student facing deportation as part of a campaign to remove international students involved in Palestinian solidarity movements, according to the Anadolu news agency.
His circumstances are similar to those of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a fellow Columbia University student who was detained in the New York area on March 8. Khalil was transferred to a detention center in Louisiana for deportation, where he remains in custody.
Pro-Israel Group Targeting Penn University’s Palestine Activists, Funded from ‘Inside’
Another case is that of Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was stopped by ICE agents as she walked down a street in Boston last month and subsequently detained. Her arrest was captured on video and widely circulated on social media.
No Evidence
The Washington Post earlier reported that days before Ozturk’s arrest, the State Department determined that the Trump administration “had not produced any evidence showing that she engaged in antisemitic activities or made public statements supporting a terrorist organization, as the government has alleged.”
The report noted that the finding was contained in a March memo described to the paper and said the Secretary of State Macro Rubio “did not have sufficient grounds for revoking Ozturk’s visa under an authority empowering the top U.S. diplomat to safeguard the foreign policy interests of the United States.”
US Judge Questions Validity of Ozturk Detention – Another Student Detained
Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar who is in the final year of her PhD in child and human development at Tufts University, has not been charged with any crime. She also remains in custordy at a Lousiana detention center.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
There’s a phrase that adequately describes what the Trump administration is intending to do, “state terror”, and there’s a backlog of US officials applying it to the USSR in the 60s and 70s. Trump can now add “State Terrorist” to his many other titles.