Palestinian student released on bail as he challenges deportation from US

BURLINGTON: 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.

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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.

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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.