A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday overturned a 2025 ruling that had required the Trump administration to release pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention. The decision does not order Mahdawi’s re-arrest, but it may affect future cases by influencing how— and in what courts—non-citizens can challenge detention based on First Amendment rights.
Mahdawi, 35, who holds permanent U.S. residency (“Green Card”) and was studying for a master’s degree at Columbia University, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after participating in campus protests related to Gaza. The article says ICE detained him in mid-April 2025 while he was attending an American citizenship interview in Vermont. A Vermont-based U.S. district judge, Geoffrey Crawford, later ordered Mahdawi released on bond, reasoning that he had the same First Amendment free-speech protections as U.S. citizens.
The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Crawford lacked jurisdiction and that the matter should have been handled through immigration court. The decision follows a similar earlier appeals-court ruling involving another Green Card holder, Mahmoud Khalil.
