Columbia pro-Palestine activist arrested after arriving at immigration office for US citizenship interview: Who is he

The US Immigration officials detained Mohsen Mahdawi, an organiser of pro-Palestinian protests last year at Columbia University, after he arrived at the Vermont immigration office, for an interview to become a US citizen. Instead of having an interview, Mohsen Mahdawi, who has been in the United States for 10 years, was arrested. According to Mahdawi’s lawyer, he started his citizenship process in 2024. He is now facing deportation.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in Vermont arrested Mohsen Mahdawi, another pro-Palestine student at Columbia University.

Follow: https://t.co/v6VYZYhWHD pic.twitter.com/GiXloE3q3u

— Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) April 15, 2025

Read More | ‘Left my cat behind…’: Indian student who self-deported from US says, ‘Columbia let me down’

Speaking to CNN, Mahdawi’s lawyer Luna Droubi said that immigration officials detained Mahdawi at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Colchester, Vermont, where he lives. Droubi also said that a temporary restraining order has been issued by a Vermont District judge preventing Mahdawi’s removal from either Vermont or the US. This after Mahdawi’s attorneys filed the motion in Vermont’s federal district court, demanding his release on bail pending adjudication. Notably, the restraining order in the case is important as ICE has demonstrated its overarching powers by deciding where to house detained migrants despite court orders.

In a written statement given to CNN, Mahdawi’s attorney said, “The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian.His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional.”

Read More |  Why did Trump administration arrest pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil? What we know

Who is Mohsen Mahdawi and his connection with pro-Palestine protest?

Mohsen Mahdawi is the second Palestinian student at Columbia who holds a green card but has been detained by immigration authorities for removal from the US. He was born in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and he lived there until he moving to the United States in 2014, as per the AFP. Mohsen Mahdawi was about to graduate next month and has a US green card since 2015. Mahdawi co-founded Dar: the Palestinian Student Society at Columbia University alongside Mahmoud Khalil. His lawyers’ petition states that their aim was to “to celebrate Palestinian culture, history and identity.” Mahdawi also established Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition that not only led pro-Palestinian protests on campus, but also urged the university to cut off ties with Israel. In December 2023, Mahdawi appeared in ’60 Minutes’ interview, during which he emphasised, “My motivation comes out of love now, not out of anger, not out of hate.” 

“The fight for freedom of Palestine and the fight against antisemitism go hand-in-hand because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” says Mohsen Mahdawi, co-president of Columbia’s Palestinian Students Union. https://t.co/xh91MwzdHe pic.twitter.com/CsBehwMWEc

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) December 6, 2023

Raised in a Palestinian refugee camp under Israeli occupation, Mohsen Mahdawi — a U.S. permanent resident and Buddhist peace activist — was set to receive his citizenship today.

Instead, he was arrested by ICE and now faces deportation.

His crime? Speaking up for Palestinian… pic.twitter.com/vx3V0snSWZ

— Kashif Chaudhry (@KashifMD) April 15, 2025

Read More |  Columbia University student, permanent US resident, sues Trump administration for trying to deport her

A court filing further stated that he is planning to return to Columbia for a master’s program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs this fall. He took on role of activist on the Columbia campus until March 2024, and has since stepped back and not been involved in organising protests, the court filing stated. A habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf calls him “an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campiagn in Gaza and an activist and organiser in student protest.” The filing argues that the Department of Homeland Security seeks to deport him on the Rubio Determination and Section 237 (a) (4) (C) (i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which is a “rarely-used provision”.

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the lead negotiators of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, and Tufts University’s Rumeysa Ozturk were also arrested in March. Khalil was taken to an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, thousands of miles from his attorneys and wife, a U.S. citizen who is due to give birth soon. An immigration judge has ordered his detention. Ozturk who was held in Vermont was transferred to a facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, against a judge’s order. She described the conditions in the detention facility as “inhumane” and “unsafe.” “The conditions in the facility are very unsanitary, unsafe, and inhumane,” she said. “There is a mouse in our cell… They don’t give us adequate hygiene supplies,” she said according to USA Today.

Senators criticise the move to arrest Mohsen Mahdawi: “Immoral, inhumane and illegal”

Vermont’s congressional delegation, Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and Representative Becca Balint, issued a joint statement against his detention, terming it “immoral, inhumane and illegal.” They wrote, “Earlier today, Mohsen Mahdawi of White River Junction, Vermont, walked into an immigration office for what was supposed to be the final step in his citizenship process.” The lawmakers further stated, “Instead, he was arrested and removed in handcuffs by plainclothes, armed, individuals with their faces covered. … This is immoral, inhumane, and illegal. Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention.”

Read More | Why Indian students in Trump’s US facing deportation: ‘Drunk driving, shoplifting, speeding’

(With inputs from agencies)