Washington — A federal appeals court on Friday said Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi can remain released from immigration custody while a legal challenge to his detention moves forward, denying a request from the Trump administration to allow immigration officials to re-detain Mahdawi.
The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit unanimously rejected the government’s bid for emergency relief, finding that it is unlikely to succeed on its arguments that a Vermont district court did not have jurisdiction over Mahdawi’s habeas petition. The 2nd Circuit panel also said that the Justice Department was unlikely to succeed on its claims that the lower court lacked the authority to order Mahdawi’s release last week.
“[T]he practical effect of the relief the government seeks would be Mahdawi’s re-detention. Individual liberty substantially outweighs the government’s weak assertions of administrative and logistical costs,” Judges Barrington Parker, Alison Nathan and Susan Carney wrote in their decision.
Mahdawi, who is to graduate from Columbia this month with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, was detained by immigration agents in Vermont last month during what he was told was his citizenship interview. His attorneys say he was detained under a rarely used law allowing the government to revoke a visa if the Secretary of State determines somebody poses “adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Mahdawi’s legal team has argued he was detained for his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, in violation of the First Amendment. The Trump administration argues it has the right to revoke visas, and has accused Mahdawi of antisemitic statements and threatening rhetoric — which Mahdawi has denied.
He was born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and he has held a green card for the last 10 years. He co-founded his university’s Palestinian Student Union alongside Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist, Columbia Ph.D. student and U.S. resident also detained by the government. Mahdawi’s attorneys said he took a “step back” from the high-profile protests at the school before students began occupying university buildings.
Khalil, a Palestinian born in Syria, was also linked to last year’s protests at Columbia. He was detained by ICE in March, with the government citing the same “adverse foreign policy consequences” argument. He is also challenging his removal and detention, though an immigration judge allowed the government to proceed with its effort to deport Khalil.
In an interview with CBS News the day before his detention, Mahdawi said he feared the citizenship interview was a “honey trap” that allowed federal immigration officials to detain him while he went in to pursue U.S. citizenship.
Mahdawi’s attorneys secured a court order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting him or moving him outside of Vermont. Then, last week, Crawford released Mahdawi from federal detention as his immigration proceedings continue and again barred the government from removing him from the state or country.
