Immigration officials detained Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi during what was meant to be a naturalization interview in Vermont. Mahdawi, a West Bank emigrant and a permanent U.S. resident, was taken into custody by authorities, sparking concerns among his attorneys of potential political retaliation for his activism. According to attorney Luna Droubi's statement obtained by Gothamist, "The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian."
Lawyers representing Mahdawi filed a petition in Vermont federal court to secure his release, alleging his detention is a violation of First Amendment rights. He has not been charged with a crime. Mahdawi's legal team has so far been unable to confirm his whereabouts despite attempts, which Droubi mentioned in a statement to CBS News. In an interesting turn, Federal Judge William Sessions issued a temporary bar on the government from removing Mahdawi from Vermont following the arrest.
The arrest is seen by some as part of a broader pattern following the recent detentions of Mahmoud Khalil and a Tufts University student, both affiliated with pro-Palestinian movements on their respective campuses. The Trump administration has cited a law allowing deportations over "adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States" as justification for the detentions, as Mahmoud Khalil's case highlighted with a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to CBS News. This has been met with legal pushback, with alleged targets of this policy filing lawsuits seeking release and fighting against deportation proceedings.
Meanwhile, controversy stirs around pro-Israel group Betar USA, which actively advocates for the detention of pro-Palestinian protest leaders and claimed Mahdawi was on their "deport list." Betar spokesman Daniel Levy extended their stance in his statement to CBS News, asserting the organization's intent to provide thousands of names of jihadis to the Trump Administration of visitors to America who support Hamas and will continue to. The validity of such accusations, however, comes under scrutiny without concrete evidence to back the claims.
Columbia declined to comment specifically on Mahdawi's case, yet having recently acquiesced to certain demands from the Trump administration in order to retain federal funding. Such demands included updated protest policies and increased security measures on campus.
