The US Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University student, according to court filings and statements from his legal team. Mahdawi, who holds permanent US residency (“green card”), was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement while attending an American citizenship interview in Vermont in mid-April 2025. He was released about two weeks later, but the deportation case remained active. Legal sources say the proceedings were re-ordered after an earlier setback for the Trump administration in February, when a US immigration judge rejected government efforts to deport him, citing issues including the lack of proper authentication of a document the government sought to rely on. The judge said the filing was relevant but not admissible because it was presented as an unauthenticated photocopy. Mahdawi’s lawyers and Mahdawi characterize the action as an attempt to use immigration enforcement to deter political activism and advocacy related to Palestinian rights. The reported background includes Mahdawi’s involvement in campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza and earlier legal disputes connected to his case.
US reinstates deportation proceedings against pro-Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi
The US Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University student, according to court filings an...
- The US Board of Immigration Appeals reinstates deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student and Palestinian green-card holder, according to filings and his legal team.
- Mahdawi is detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he attends a US citizenship interview in Vermont in mid-April 2025; he is released after about two weeks but deportation proceedings continue.
- A US immigration judge in February blocks efforts to deport him, with the government’s evidence including a document that the judge says lacks proper authentication and is not admissible.
- Mahdawi’s legal team says the reinstatement is tied to his pro-Palestinian activism and advocacy, and Mahdawi calls it an attempt to “weaponize” the immigration system to silence dissent.
US reinstates deportation proceedings against Palestinian green-card holder student The US Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green-card holder who helped lead anti-war protests at Columbia University last year, his legal team have said. Mahdawi, who has permanent US residency or "green card" status, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when he attended an American citizenship interview in Vermont in mid-April last year. "The government continues to weaponize the immigration system to silence dissent," Mahdawi said in a statement shared by his legal team on Wednesday. The 34-year-old, who was studying for a master's degree at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, was detained by ICE agents following his participation in campus protests against Israel's war on Gaza. He was released two weeks after his detention, but the deportation proceedings remained in place. Read more: US reinstates deportation proceedings against Palestinian green-card holder student Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi poses for a portrait inside Havemeyer Hall on the Columbia campus in New York City, 18 May 2025 (Reuters)
3 months agoStudent accuses government of weaponising the immigration system to silence his advocacy for Palestinian rights.
3 months agoUS reinstates deportation proceedings against Palestinian green-card holder student Submitted by Bilge Kotan on Thu, 05/07/2026 - 06:23 Mohsen Mahdawi, a pro-Palestine activist who led anti-war protests at Columbia University, was detained for two weeks during his citizenship interview last year Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi poses for a portrait inside Havemeyer Hall on the Columbia campus in New York City, 18 May 2025 (Reuters) Off The US Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green-card holder who helped lead anti-war protests at Columbia University last year, his legal team have said. Mahdawi, who has permanent US residency or "green card" status, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when he attended an American citizenship interview in Vermont in mid-April last year. "The government continues to weaponize the immigration system to silence dissent," Mahdawi said in a statement shared by his legal team on Wednesday. The 34-year-old, who was studying for a master's degree at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, was detained by ICE agents following his participation in campus protests against Israel's war on Gaza. He was released two weeks after his detention, but the deportation proceedings remained in place. In February this year, a US immigration judge blocked the efforts by the Trump administration to deport the student after the government failed to authenticate a memo from the Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding his removal from the country. Judge Nina Froes said the administration hoped to use as evidence in its case to remove Mahdawi from the US "by way of a photocopy of a document," adding that the filing is relevant to the case but that "it is not admissible as it lacked proper authentication". The immigration judge was fired by the Trump administration last month after blocking Mahdawi's deportation. Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Mahdawi moved to the US ten years ago. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia in 2023 alongside Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian student movement who was also targeted by the US administration. According to The Intercept, Mahdawi stepped back from the campus protests in 2024 to build "bridges with Jewish and Israeli communities on campus". Mahdawi asked Shai Davidai, a pro-Israel assistant professor who has been accused of harassing and intimidating pro-Palestine students at Columbia University, to meet him for coffee. Davidai reportedly left in the middle of their meeting. Less than two months after the meeting, Davidai posted a video of Mahdawi to X (Twitter) in a thread accusing him and other protest organisers of being "antisemitic" and "pro-Hamas". Last month, the Trump administration fired six judges, including those who blocked deportation cases against Mahdawi and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish pro-Palestine Tufts University student who was arrested for an op-ed article she co-authored. US Protests News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0
3 months agoThe Columbia University student, raised in a West Bank refugee camp, was arrested in 2025 during a US citizenship interview.
3 months agoBy Kanishka SinghWASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Board of ImmigrationAppeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against pro-Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, according to a court filing from his lawyers.A U.S. immigration judge in February had rejected efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to deport the Columbia University student, who was arrested last year following his participation in pro-Palestinian protests.
3 months ago
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