Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi released on bail as he challenges US deportation
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Demonstrators calling for the release from immigration custody of Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi in New York City on April 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was released from US immigration custody on April 30, after a judge ruled he should be free on bail to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests.
Mr Mahdawi, born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, was arrested earlier in April upon arriving for an interview for his US citizenship petition.
A judge swiftly ordered President Donald Trump’s administration not to deport him from the United States or take him out of the state of Vermont.
After two weeks in detention, Mr Mahdawi walked out of the federal courthouse in Burlington, Vermont, following US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford’s order that he be released at a court hearing on April 30.
In his ruling, Judge Crawford said Mr Mahdawi did not pose a danger to the public and was not a flight risk.
The judge drew parallels between the current political climate and the Red Scare and McCarthyism eras of the last century, when thousands of people were targeted for deportation because of their political views.
Mr Mahdawi’s release marked a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian foreign university students, though other students remain in jail.
“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet, I am not afraid of you,” Mr Mahdawi said after he emerged from the courthouse, dozens of protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting “no fear” and “yes love”.
“This is a light of hope, hope and faith in the justice system in America,” Mr Mahdawi said of Judge Crawford’s decision to release him.
Trump administration officials have said student visa holders are subject to deportation
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Mr Mahdawi’s privilege of studying in the United States on a green card should be taken away.
“When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” Ms McLaughlin said in a statement.
“No judge, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that.”
Mr Trump’s critics have called the effort an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi has been targeted for deportation by the Trump administration over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
“Mahdawi is here in the United States legally and acted legally,” Vermont’s US congressional delegation of Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch and Representative Becca Balint said in a statement.
“The Trump administration’s actions in this case – and in so many other cases of wrongfully detained, deported and disappeared people – are shameful and immoral.”
Other protesters in similar circumstances include Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk.
Both Mr Khalil and Ms Ozturk remain in custody and have not been charged with any crimes.
Mr Mahdawi, a green card holder, has lived in Vermont for 10 years and is set to graduate from Columbia in May, according to his lawyers.
“Every individual in this country, citizen and non-citizen alike, deserves the due process rights afforded them by law,” a Columbia University spokeswoman said following his release.
Mr Mahdawi has not been accused of any crime.
Rather, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his pro-Palestinian activism could potentially undermine the Middle East peace process.
“They arrested me. What’s the reason? Because I raised my voice, and I said no to war, yes to peace,” Mr Mahdawi said outside the courthouse.
“Because I said, ‘Enough is enough. Killing more than 50,000 Palestinians is more than enough’.”
In his ruling, Judge Crawford said Mr Mahdawi had exercised his right to advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Gaza.
As a non-citizen resident, he enjoyed the same First Amendment free speech rights as US citizens, the judge said.
People who knew Mr Mahdawi described him as a peaceful figure who sought consensus in a highly charged political environment, the judge added.
“Even if he were a firebrand, his conduct is protected by the First Amendment,” Judge Crawford wrote. REUTERS
