A Palestinian activist expecting a U.S. citizenship interview is arrested instead by ICE in Vermont
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- Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident with a green card, was arrested Monday, his attorney said.
- Mahdawi led protests against the war in Gaza while a student at Columbia University.
CONCORD, N.H. — A Palestinian man arrested at a Vermont immigration office during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship is relieved that he hasn’t been moved out of state and thankful for those supporting him, his attorney said Tuesday.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who led protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University, was arrested Monday in Colchester, Vt. A judge later issued an order barring the government from removing him from the state or country, and one of Mahdawi’s attorneys confirmed Tuesday afternoon that he remains in Vermont.
Attorney Luna Droubi said lawyers have connected with Mahdawi, though they have not received any information about why he was detained.
“He believes in peace and unity despite having witnessed atrocities many of us cannot comprehend,” she said in an email. “His detention that appears to be based on defamatory statements by non-governmental actors and opponents of Palestinian human rights should outrage us all.”
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he would not return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S., despite a Supreme Court ruling saying the U.S. should facilitate his return.
The day before his arrest, Mahdawi told CBS News that any allegation that the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia was antisemitic was false.
“I want people to know that the work and the activism that we have done was centered in the energy of love,” he said. “I want people to know that my compassion extended beyond the Palestinian people. My compassion is also for the Jewish people and for the Israelis as well.”
“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,” Droubi said.
According to the court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master’s degree program there in the fall.
The petition describes him as a committed Buddhist who believes in “non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion.”
As a student, Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the U.S. and graduate student who recently was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Khalil was the first person arrested under President Trump’s promised crackdown on students who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza. On Friday, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil can be deported as a national security risk.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil said they plan to keep fighting and will seek a waiver, while a federal judge in New Jersey has temporarily barred Khalil’s deportation.
Christopher Helali, a friend of Mahdawi who lives near him in Vermont, was present outside the immigration office when Mahdawi was detained and recorded a video of Mahdawi being led away by authorities. In the video, which Helali released on social media Monday, Mahdawi is shown giving a peace sign with his hands and being led away to a car.
Helali described Mahdawi as a peaceful demonstrator who has worked to foster dialogue about the struggle of Palestinians in his homeland. Helali said that he and Mahdawi were aware Mahdawi could be detained and that his friend went forward with the appointment anyway.
“And rightfully so, he was nervous for what was going on around him. But he was very much resolute in coming to this interview and coming today because he didn’t do anything wrong and was a law-abiding citizen, or soon-to-be citizen,” Helali said.
President Trump often rails about illegal immigration, but some of his executive orders aim to eliminate or undermine legal pathways for immigration.
Vermont’s congressional delegation issued a statement condemning Mahdawi’s arrest, saying that instead of taking one of the final steps in his citizenship process, he was handcuffed by armed officers 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,” said the statement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint.
Whittle and Ramer write for the Associated Press.
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