Federal agents arrested Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green-card holder, during his naturalization interview in Colchester, Vermont, on Monday. According to court filings, Mahdawi was taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on foreign-born student protesters.
Mahdawi was a prominent voice in last spring’s pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations and is the latest student activist to face detention. His lawyer, Luna Droubi, called the arrest “retaliation” for Mahdawi’s advocacy, labeling it unconstitutional.
A social media post by the pro-Israel group Betar US had previously listed Mahdawi as someone they believed should be deported.
A judge has ruled that Mahdawi cannot be deported for now. However, the federal government is invoking an immigration statute that allows for removal if a noncitizen is deemed to have adversely affected U.S. interests — the same justification used against fellow Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil.
Sources
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