[[link removed]]

COLUMBIA STUDENT HAS CLEAR MESSAGE FOR TRUMP AFTER JUDGE FREES HIM  
[[link removed]]


 

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling
April 30, 2025
The New Republic
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ A federal judge freed Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student leader
at Columbia University, who was part of the pro-Palestine protests.
“The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a
person who has been charged with no crime,” _

Mohsen Mahdawi greets supporters outside the federal courthouse in
Burlington after a judge ordered his release from detention on April
30, 2025., Photo: Joey Palumbo / Vermont Public

 

A federal judge freed Mohsen Mahdawi
[[link removed]],
a Palestinian student leader at Columbia University, on Wednesday.

Mahdawi, a U.S. permanent resident who has lived in the country for
more than a decade, was arrested earlier this month as part of a trap
set by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who detained him at
an immigration interview that Mahdawi believed would be his last step
in obtaining U.S. citizenship.

“The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a
person who has been charged with no crime,” U.S. District Judge
Geoffrey Crawford said at a hearing Wednesday. “Mr. Mahdawi, I will
order you released.”

Crawford ordered Mahdawi’s release on bail pending the resolution of
his habeas petition, noting that the 34-year-old had received letters
of support from more than 90 community members, including people of
the Jewish faith, consistently describing him as “peaceful.”

Outside the courtroom, Mahdawi raised his hands above his head,
sharing an uncomplicated message to the Trump administration.

“I am saying it clear and loud,” Mahdawi said. “To President
Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you.”

“What we are witnessing now and what we’re understanding is
exactly what Dr. Martin Luther King has said before: Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” he added.

Mahdawi’s case was a unique outlier against a backdrop of rushed and
unconstitutional deportations that have shipped immigrants to ICE
centers far from their homes. Unlike others, Mahdawi was allowed to
remain in Vermont, where he lives and attends school remotely.

Mahdawi co-founded Columbia University’s Palestinian Student Union
alongside detained peer Mahmoud Khalil, another legal U.S. permanent
resident who was shipped to an ICE center in Louisiana in March,
shortly after he was ripped away from his pregnant wife by
plainclothes ICE agents. An immigration judge ruled
[[link removed]] April
11 that Khalil could be deported out of the country, but he has
remained in the U.S. as he appeals the decision. The 30-year-old got
a break
[[link removed]] in
the case earlier Wednesday when another federal judge ruled that
Khalil could argue in court that he was targeted for deportation due
to his political views.

The Trump administration has leaned on a WWII-era policy, the Alien
Enemies Act
[[link removed]],
to justify their immigration crackdown while ignoring immigrants’
due process rights, sometimes defying court orders in the process.

Donald Trump has justified
[[link removed]] the
infractions by claiming that immigration into the country is
tantamount to an “invasion,” and has described the current era as
a “time of war.”

Arguing in a Department of Homeland Security notice justifying
Mahdawi’s detention, State Secretary Marco Rubio wrote that
Mahdawi’s continued “presence” in the U.S. could create
“adverse foreign policy consequences.” In other petitions to boot
immigrants out of the country, Rubio has effectively likened free
speech to a crime, arguing that protests of U.S. involvement in the
war in Gaza should be construed as deportable offenses.

Mahdawi grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, where
most of his family remains. He has been outspoken
[[link removed]] about
his experiences growing up in the occupied region, describing the
murders of his friends and loved ones by Israeli forces, and the
violence he experienced when he was shot in the leg by an Israeli
soldier at the age of 15.

“Before coming to this country, freedom was just a concept,”
Mahdawi told NPR
[[link removed]] on
Tuesday. “But the actual experience of freedom of movement to travel
among 50 states, freedom to breathe the breeze of the ocean, and to
feel your toes in the sand. This is the first place I have experienced
this freedom of speech where I will not be actually retaliated against
or punished for saying my mind.”

“Do I still feel this way?” he continued. “I think it’s in
jeopardy. I think this is a red flag, not only to me, but to the
American people who care about freedom, the right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. I have the hope that this country will
fulfill its promise.”

_[ELLIE QUINLAN HOUGHTALING is an associate writer covering breaking
news at The New Republic. Her work has also appeared in The Daily
Beast, The Guardian, Gothamist and The Real Deal.]_

* Mohsen Mahdawi
[[link removed]]
* Mohsen Madawi
[[link removed]]
* Immigrants
[[link removed]]
* immigrant rights
[[link removed]]
* deportations
[[link removed]]
* Solidarity
[[link removed]]
* ICE
[[link removed]]
* DHS
[[link removed]]
* Free Speech
[[link removed]]
* permanent resident
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]
* Trump 2.0
[[link removed]]
* Palestine solidarity
[[link removed]]
* Palestinian students
[[link removed]]
* Columbia protests
[[link removed]]
* Columbia student protests
[[link removed]]
* foreign students
[[link removed]]
* Vermont
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]