Why Palestinian student at Columbia University was detained at US citizenship interview | World News
Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University and prominent campus organiser, was detained on April 8 during what was meant to be his final interview for US citizenship. Mahdawi—who has held a green card for a decade—was detained Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Colchester, Vermont.
His legal team described the detention as ‘unconstitutional’, sparking urgent legal efforts to halt his deportation. A federal judge in Vermont issued a temporary restraining order to prevent Mahdawi from being transferred out of state, citing similar tactics reportedly used against other Palestinian students.
“The Trump adminration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian,” his lawyer, Luna Droubi, said.
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“His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional.”
“This is their M.O.,” said Droubi, describing what she called a “pattern of hiding” detainees from their legal teams.
A video shared on social media shows him being escorted into a car two officers wearing police jackets.
EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE: Columbia student and Palestinian Mohsen Madawi was just arrested during a visit to the immigration office here in Colchester, VT. More to follow. Footage : Chropher Helali pic.twitter.com/I9JvPS2DLn
— Chropher Helali (@ChrisHelali) April 14, 2025
Mahdawi is now being held under a rarely invoked provision that permits the US Secretary of State to designate individuals as threats to national security or foreign policy—despite the absence of any criminal charges.
Who is Mohsen Mahdawi?
Originally from a refugee camp in the West Bank, Mahdawi moved to the US in 2014. He is currently completing an undergraduate degree in philosophy at Columbia’s School of General Studies and had planned to pursue graduate studies at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs this autumn.Story continues below this ad
Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s military response in Gaza, Mahdawi helped establish Dar: The Palestinian Student Society at Columbia and co-founded Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a campaign urging the university to cut financial ties with Israel.
March 2024, Mahdawi said he stepped back from organising, citing concerns over his immigration status and his commitment to nonviolence as a practicing Buddh. “My motivation comes out of love now, not out of anger,” he told CBS News’ 60 Minutes in December 2023, where he also recalled witnessing the killing of his childhood best friend an Israeli soldier.
Vermont lawmakers—Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, and Representative Becca Balint—issued a joint statement calling his detention “immoral, inhumane, and illegal,” and urged his immediate release.
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