Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi is free after a federal judge in Vermont ordered his release only weeks after armed Department of Homeland Security agents arrested him.
Mahdawi, who was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, was arrested by federal authorities back on April 14 while he was arriving to a naturalization interview. Since then, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been holding him at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, Vermont.
“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said told a crowd of supporters after his release. What appeared to be hundreds of people cheered him on as he emerged from a courthouse and cheered, “No fear!”
Mahdawi’s release, which came after an order from U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford, comes as other college students like Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk continue to fight for their freedom after being detained by federal agents in recent months.
“You might think I am free, but my freedom is interlinked to the freedom of many other students,” he said. “What is happening now is a light of hope. Justice Crawford, who ruled to release me against all of the heinous accusations, horrible attacks, chills of speech, First Amendment violations, he has made a very brave decision to let me out and this is what justice is.”
In a statement to USA TODAY, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that the judge’s ruling would not stop the Trump administration from “restoring the rule of law to our immigration system.”
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, or harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” she said.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Wednesday.
Only steps away from citizenship
According to court records, Mahdawi was detained by federal agents back on April 14 as he was showing up to an appointment to become a citizen of the United States.
A friend of Mahdawi’s posted a video online of him being taken from the immigration office by Department of Homeland Security officers and placed in an official vehicle. Mahdawi flashed a pair of peace signs with his hands cuffed in front. He flashed peace signs again after his release on Wednesday.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and others from Vermont’s congressional delegation labeled the detention “immoral, inhumane, and illegal,” saying the legal U.S. resident should be afforded due process and released immediately.
Mahdawi “walked into an immigration office for what was supposed to be the final step in his citizenship process. Instead, he was arrested and removed in handcuffs by plainclothes, armed individuals with their faces covered,” they said.
According to court records, Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified Mahdawi’s detention by saying that his “presence and activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”
Rubio did not elaborate.
Contributing: Reuters
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi freed from federal custody
