Columbia pupil Mohsen Mahdawi launched from ICE detention

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian Columbia pupil who had been detained by immigration authorities when he went to his U.S. citizenship interview, has been launched after a federal choose’s order in Vermont on Wednesday.

Mahdawi was taken into custody on April 16. A choose later issued an order barring the federal government from eradicating him from the state or nation. 

“Sure you would possibly suppose I’m free, however my freedom is interlinked with the liberty of many different college students,” Mahdawi stated outdoors the courthouse in Burlington, Vermont, shortly after being launched. 

Mahdawi’s attorneys argued that the Trump administration is searching for to deport Mahdawi as a result of he helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia College’s campus within the early months of the Israel-Hamas conflict, in violation of his First Modification rights. 

Mahdawi has pushed again in opposition to allegations of antisemitism within the Columbia protests. In an interview with CBS Information a day earlier than his arrest, Mahdawi stated, “I need individuals to know that my compassion prolonged past the Palestinian individuals. My compassion can be for the Jewish individuals and for the Israelis as properly.” 

He additionally stated he took a step again from the protests earlier than college students shaped encampments on Columbia’s campus and took over a college constructing final 12 months.

contributed to this report.