A Columbia University student who was detained by immigration authorities on April 14 was released on bail Wednesday on a federal judge's orders. Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration office in Colchester, Vermont, when he showed up for a naturalization interview. He is Palestinian, grew up in the West Bank, has lived in the US since 2014, and has had a green card since 2015.
"I am saying it clear and loud," Mahdawi said outside the federal courthouse in Burlington, reports Politico. "To President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you. He added, per the AP: "If there is no fear, what is it replaced with? Love. Love is our way." The outlet reports that Mahdawi led supporters in chanting "the people united will never be defeated," "no fear," and "free Palestine."
US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford released Mahdawi pending the resolution of his habeas corpus petition, which argues the administration is trying to deport him despite the right to free speech, reports the New York Daily News. The judge gave him permission to leave Vermont to attend May graduation at Columbia, where he's due to begin a master's degree program in the fall.
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The AP reports that while studying at Columbia, Mahdawi organized campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza until March 2024. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, who has also been detained by immigration authorities. Authorities say Mahdawi's "presence and activities" in the US are a threat to national security, per the AP. The government has argued his detention is a "constitutionally valid aspect of the deportation process" and that district courts "play no role in that process." (More Columbia University stories.)
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