A Palestine-born student at Columbia University treading closer to the US citizenship was forced to stop in his tracks on Monday. Mohsen Mahdawi, a green card holder who has been in the country for a decade, was arrested by immigration officials at a Vermont immigration office where he was headed for his US citizenship interview.
The pro-Palestinian activist, who had a prominent leading presence as an organiser of student protests last year, was detained at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Colchester, Vermont, as per his lawyer’s statement to CNN.
Mohsen Mahdawi is the second Palestinian Columbia student with a green card to be detained by ICE
Mohsen Mahdawi’s arrest comes amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing mass deportation efforts that have especially plagued international students, who have, in one way or another, expressed humanitarian concerns for the pro-Palestinian cause. He’s not the first the Palestinian Columbia University student to be detained under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Last month, federal immigration agents detained Mahmoud Khalil, yet another legal US resident of Palestinian-origin, for leading campus protests against the war in Gaza. As the 30-year-old continued to be entangled in a tumultuous legal battle – trying his best to resist deportation, the Trump administration has now detained Mohnsen Mahdawi. According to his attorney Luna Droubi’s statement, the senior at Columbia was arrested “in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian.”
Where is the detained Palestinian Columbia student now?
His lawyer also wrote, “His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is al unconstitutional.” Having received confirmation from Acting US Attorney (Michael) Drescher and the local ICE office, Droubi said that Mahdawi is still in Vermont, which is also where he lives.
What do we know about Mohsen Mahdawi?
The Palestinian activist was born in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and he lived there until he moving to the United States in 2014, as per the AFP. Having been a legal US permanent resident since 2015, Mohsen Mahdawi was on his path to graduating next month. A court filing further stated that he is planning to return to Columbia for a master’s program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs this fall.
A habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf calls him “an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campiagn in Gaza and an activist and organiser in student protests…” Mahdawi took on this role on the Columbia campus until March 2024, and has since stepped back and not been involved in organising protests.
It is to be noted that Mohsen Mahdawi has not been accused of a crime. The filing argues that the Department of Homeland Security seeks to deport him on the Rubio Determination and Section 237 (a) (4) (C) (i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which is a “rarely-used provision” that was also used to detain Mahmoud Khalil, another lawful permanent resident of the country. Consequently, the formal filing not only accuses officials of violating the First Amendment, but also his statutory rights and due process rights.
His attorney requested a temporary restraining order, which has since been issued by Vermont District Court Judge William Sessions, barring Mahdawi’s transfer from Vermont and removal from the US. In similar cases involving international students, they were transferred to detention facilities in Louisiana and Texas.
Mohnsen Mahdawi’s involvement in student activism
The Palestinian student, who is in his mid-30s, co-founded Dar: the Palestinian Student Society at Columbia University alongside Mahmoud Khalil. His lawyers’ petition states that their aim was to “to celebrate Palestinian culture, history and identity.” Mahdawi was also instrumental in establishing Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition that not only led pro-Palestinian protests on campus, but also urged the university to cut off ties with Israel. Moreover, he even stepped up as the president of the Columbia University Buddhist Association for two years.
In December 2023, he came out for a ’60 Minutes’ interview, during which she emphasised, “My motivation comes out of love now, not out of anger, not out of hate.”
An Israeli friend of Mahdawi’s at Columbia described him as empathetic
His friend Mikey Baratz, who is a Jewish and born and brought up in Israel until the age of 12, told the New York Times, “This is a Palestinian. I’m an Israeli. Our people are at war. And his willingness to actually hear and actively learn and understand the Israeli experience — I mean, I’ve never met anyone who so quickly was willing to take feedback.” Baratz also said that Mahdawi contacted him six months as he wanted to meet Israeli students at the university and hear his side of the story.
Vermont’s senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, and Rep Becca Balint have denounced his arrest, calling it “immoral, inhumane and illegal.” In a joint statement, they added, “Mr Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention.” An anxious Mohsen Mahdawi – fearing the outcome of his US citizenship interview – had reached out to the lawmakers before the appointment, as per the NYT.