Anti-Israel student activist and Columbia University graduate Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Vermont on Monday.
A senior State Department spokesperson said on Monday that Mahdawi played an active role in fall 2024 student protests at Columbia University and “has engaged in antisemitic conduct through leading pro-Palestinian protests and calling for Israel’s destruction,” per reporting by the New York Post.
Mahdawi, who was co-president of Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, filed a petition Monday evening, protesting his removal. Mahdawi was born and raised in a refugee camp in Judea and Samaria and has held a U.S. green card for the past ten years, according to the legal filing.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Mahdawi. Mahdawi is still being held in ICE detention, according to its online locator.
Columbia University declined a request to comment, citing federal student privacy regulations.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) released a joint statement on Monday calling Mahdawi’s detainment “immoral, inhumane and illegal” and urging for his immediate release.
The legislators emphasized that Mahdawi was at an immigration office in White River Junction, Vt., completing his citizenship process when he was arrested.
Columbia Jewish Alumni Association said in a statement on Monday that Mahdawi “spent six years at Birzeit University, then another 10-ish at Dartmouth, Lehigh and Columbia.”
“That’s 16 years as a full-time undergraduate, and he wasn’t done—he was planning to enroll at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs,” it stated. “Assuming he started at 18, he’s now pushing 35. By the time he wrapped up grad school, he’d be 37. That’s almost two decades in very expensive colleges. This isn’t a great education plan, but it’s an excellent green-card strategy, if you can afford it.”
“So cry for this ‘student’ if you must, but he’s clearly committed to something, and it’s probably not education,” it added.
