Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was released from US immigration custody on Wednesday, after a judge ruled he should be free on bail to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Mahdawi, born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, was arrested earlier this month upon arriving for an interview for his US citizenship petition. A judge swiftly ordered President Donald Trump’s administration not to deport him from the United States or take him out of the state of Vermont.
After two weeks in detention, Mahdawi walked out of the federal courthouse in Burlington, Vermont, following US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford order that he be released at a court hearing on Wednesday.
In his ruling, Crawford said Mahdawi did not pose a danger to the public and was not a flight risk. The judge drew parallels between the current political climate and the Red Scare and McCarthyism eras of the last century when thousands of people were targeted for deportation due to their political views.
Mahdawi’s release marked a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian foreign university students, though other students remain in jail.
“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his cabinet, I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said after he emerged from the courthouse, dozens of protesters waving Palestinian flags chanting “no fear” and “yes love.”
“This is a light of hope, hope and faith in the justice system in America,” Mahdawi said of Crawford’s decision to release him.
Trump administration officials have said student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to US foreign policy.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Mahdawi’s privilege of studying in the United States on a green card should be taken away.
“When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “No judge, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that.”
Trump’s critics have called the effort an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
“Mahdawi is here in the United States legally and acted legally,” Vermont’s US Congressional delegation of Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch and Representative Becca Balint said in a statement. “The Trump Administration’s actions in this case — and in so many other cases of wrongfully detained, deported, and disappeared people — are shameful and immoral.” Other protesters in similar circumstances include Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk. Both Khalil and Ozturk remain in custody and have not been charged with any crimes.
Mahdawi, a green card holder, has lived in Vermont for 10 years and is set to graduate from Columbia in May, according to his lawyers.
He has not been accused of any crime. Rather, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his pro-Palestinian activism could potentially undermine the Middle East peace process.
“They arrested me. What’s the reason? Because I raised my voice, and I said no to war, yes to peace,” Mahdawi said outside the courthouse. “Because I said, ‘Enough is enough. Killing more than 50,000 Palestinians is more than enough.’” In his ruling, Crawford said Mahdawi had exercised his right to advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Gaza. As a noncitizen resident, he enjoyed the same First Amendment free speech rights as US citizens, Crawford said.
People who knew Mahdawi described him as a peaceful figure who sought consensus in a highly-charged political environment, the judge added.
“Even if he were a firebrand, his conduct is protected by the First Amendment,” Crawford wrote.
Palestinian student released on bail as he challenges deportation from US
https://arab.news/jq59b
Palestinian student released on bail as he challenges deportation from US
- People who knew Mahdawi described him as a peaceful figure who sought consensus in a highly-charged political environment, the judge says
Zelensky talks with allies en route to US as Russia pummels Ukraine
- Zelensky will meet Trump on Sunday, with focus on a new, 20-point plan that would freeze the war on its current front line
- In a conference call Saturday, the Ukrainian leader briefed EU, NATO and European leaders, who gave him their “full support”
OTTAWA, Canada: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky consulted with allies on Saturday and won renewed expressions of support ahead of a meeting with US President Donald Trump, hours after Russia pummelled Kyiv with drones and missiles in its latest attack on the capital.
During a stopover in Canada en route to Florida for the Trump meeting, the Ukrainian president spoke first with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Then, in a conference call, he briefed EU, NATO and European leaders, who gave him their “full support” according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a social media post they welcomed “a just and lasting peace that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Zelensky said the Russian onslaught showed Moscow had no intention of ending the invasion it launched in February 2022 and which has killed tens of thousands of people.
“This attack is again, Russia’s answer on our peace efforts. And this really showed that Putin doesn’t want peace, and we want peace,” Zelensky said before meeting the Canadian premier.
Carney said the latest Russian attack underscored the need to stand by Ukraine.
“We have the conditions... of a just and lasting peace, but that requires a willing Russia, and the barbarism that we saw overnight... shows just how important it is that we stand with Ukraine,” said Carney.
Russia has accused Ukraine and its European backers of trying to “torpedo” a previous US-brokered plan to stop the fighting.
Adding to pressure on the battlefield, Russia announced on Saturday it had captured two more towns in eastern Ukraine, Myrnograd and Guliaipole.
“If the authorities in Kyiv don’t want to settle this business peacefully, we’ll resolve all the problems before us by military means,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.
‘They do not want to end the war’
The overnight barrage of drones and missiles, which targeted Kyiv for about 10 hours, killed two people, wounded dozens and cut power and heating to more than a million of the region’s residents during freezing temperatures, Ukraine authorities said.
Zelensky said some 500 drones and 40 missiles had pounded the capital and its surrounding region.
“Russian representatives engage in lengthy talks, but in reality, Kinzhals (missiles) and Shaheds (drones) speak for them,” he said.
“They do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering,” he added.
Neighbouring Poland, a NATO member, scrambled jets and put air defenses on alert during the attack, its military said on social media.
‘Security guarantees should be strong’
Sunday’s meeting in Florida is to focus on a new, 20-point plan that would freeze the war on its current front line. It could require Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, allowing the creation of demilitarised buffer zones, according to details revealed by Zelensky this week.
The new plan, formulated with Ukraine’s input, is Kyiv’s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions.
It is a marked departure from an initial 28-point proposal by Washington last month that adhered to many of Russia’s core demands.
Trump, speaking to news outlet Politico on Friday, said of Zelensky’s plan that “he doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” He added: “So we’ll see what he’s got.”
Part of the plan includes separate US-Ukraine bilateral agreements on security guarantees, reconstruction and the economy.
Zelensky said those were changing daily. “As for sensitive issues, we will discuss (the eastern region of) Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he added.
Zelensky said his meeting with the US leader was aimed at reducing unresolved issues to a minimum.
“Of course, today there are red lines for Ukraine and Ukrainian people. There are compromise proposals. All of these issues are very sensitive,” he said on X.
Meanwhile, Ukraine needed European and US support to acquire weapons and funds, both of which were insufficient, Zelensky said — “in particular for the production of weapons and, most importantly, drones.”
In negotiations, Ukraine’s “most important consideration — if we take certain steps — is that security guarantees should be strong and we should be protected,” he said.
Ukraine is working with the US on a roadmap for the country’s reconstruction, said Zelensky, which will require between $700 billion and $800 billion.
