Mohsen Mahdawi, the Palestinian activist and Columbia University student whose detention by immigration officials in April sparked national outrage, is no longer facing deportation.
In a statement on Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont announced that an immigration judge had terminated the removal proceedings against Mahdawi, who was detained at an immigration appointment in Colchester while applying for U.S. citizenship.
Mahdawi lives in White River Junction and has been a legal permanent resident in the U.S. for over a decade.
“Nearly a year ago, I was detained at my citizenship interview not for breaking the law but for speaking against the genocide of Palestinians,” Mahdawi said in the statement. “In a climate where dissent is increasingly met with intimidation and detention, today’s ruling renews hope that due process still applies and that no agency stands above the Constitution.”
According to the ACLU, the immigration judge’s decision hinged on the government’s failure to authenticate a memorandum from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that served as the basis for the government’s deportation case against Mahdawi. The document called Mahdawi a threat to U.S. foreign policy for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians.
The judge’s ruling was issued without prejudice, meaning the government has the option to refile deportation proceedings. It can also appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Mahdawi was held in detention in Vermont for more than two weeks. He filed a habeas petition in the U.S. District of Vermont arguing his detention was unlawful, and was released on bail by federal judge Geoffrey Crawford on April 30.
He has been fighting the deportation proceedings against him since then.
A separate case before the U.S. Second Circuit of Appeals in New York City regarding the release of Mahdawi and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts student from Turkey who was also targeted and detained for her advocacy, remains pending.
In that case, the government is arguing the federal judges who released the two students overstepped their authority. The panel of three judges heard arguments in September and has yet to issue a ruling.
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