US detains Palestinian scholar chief 10 years after arrival, days earlier than gaining citizenship
Mohsen Mahdawi had each motive to assume April 8, 2025, could be the day he stepped into a brand new chapter—as a US citizen. As an alternative, the Palestinian scholar chief at Columbia College walked right into a Vermont immigration workplace and was greeted not by an oath ceremony, however by plainclothes federal brokers. Mahdawi, who has lived legally within the US for a decade, was handcuffed and brought into custody.
The twisty flip of occasions unfolded at a US Citizenship and Immigration Providers facility in Colchester, Vermont. Based on CNN, Mahdawi was detained simply earlier than what was alleged to be his last interview to turn into a citizen. His lawyer, Luna Droubi, instructed CNN that the detention is “an try to silence those that converse out in opposition to the atrocities in Gaza,” calling it “unconstitutional.”
From cap and robe to cuffs and chilly holding cells
Mahdawi isn’t only a scholar—he’s a senior at Columbia College and a co-founder of its Palestinian Pupil Union. He had stepped again from activism in March 2024, in keeping with CNN, months earlier than campus protests over Gaza reignited. However that didn’t protect him. Droubi instructed CNN the detention was “in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and due to his id.”
A Vermont District decide has issued a brief restraining order stopping Mahdawi’s elimination from each Vermont and the US, as reported by CNN. Droubi confirmed to CNN that Mahdawi stays in Vermont and that one in all his attorneys has spoken with him. She emphasised that if officers switch him now, it could immediately violate the court docket’s order.
One other scholar, one other state, similar story
Mahdawi isn’t alone. Mahmoud Khalil, one other Palestinian scholar chief at Columbia and co-founder of the identical union, was detained on March 8, 2025, and is presently held in Louisiana. Based on CNN, he’s additionally a inexperienced card holder and is married to a US citizen. A Louisiana immigration decide dominated Khalil is topic to elimination below claims of endangering US international coverage. His attorneys are interesting.
Lawmakers, attorneys, and authorized limbo
Vermont’s full congressional delegation known as the detention “immoral, inhumane and unlawful,” in a joint assertion reported by CNN. In the meantime, the Trump administration seems to be invoking the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, utilizing the “international coverage rule” to justify its actions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed CNN final week that visas could be revoked if people acted in opposition to “nationwide curiosity.”
What was alleged to be a celebration of belonging has now became a authorized and political battle that might form extra than simply Mahdawi’s future.
