US judge blocks deportation of Columbia University Palestinian activist
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Mr Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by immigration agents in 2025 while attending an interview to become a US citizen.
PHOTO: RYAN MURPHY/NYTIMES
WASHINGTON – A US immigration judge has blocked the deportation of a Palestinian graduate student who helped organise protests at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza, according to US media reports.
Mr Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by immigration agents in 2025 while attending an interview to become a US citizen.
He had been involved in a wave of demonstrations that gripped several major US university campuses since Israel began a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas militants’ deadly Oct 7, 2023, attack.
Born in the occupied West Bank, Mr Mahdawi has been a legal US permanent resident since 2015 and graduated from the prestigious New York university in May 2025.
He has been free from federal custody since April 2025.
In an order made public on Feb 17, Judge Nina Froes said President Donald Trump’s administration did not provide sufficient evidence that Mr Mahdawi could be legally removed from the US, multiple media outlets reported.
Judge Froes reportedly questioned the authenticity of a copy of a document purportedly signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that said Mr Mahdawi’s activism “could undermine the Middle East peace process by reinforcing anti-Semitic sentiment”, according to The New York Times.
Mr Rubio has argued that federal law grants him the authority to summarily revoke visas and deport migrants who pose threats to US foreign policy.
The Trump administration can still appeal against the decision, which marked a setback in the Republican President’s efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian campus activists.
The administration has also attempted to deport Mr Mahmoud Khalil, another student activist who co-founded a Palestinian student group at Columbia, alongside Mr Mahdawi.
“I am grateful to the court for honouring the rule of law and holding the line against the government’s attempts to trample on due process,” Mr Mahdawi said in a statement released by his attorneys and published on Feb 17 by several media outlets.
“This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice.” AFP
