A federal judge Wednesday ordered the release of a foreign national who led widespread student protests at Columbia University and defended the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists.
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford of Vermont, appointed to the bench by the Obama administration, ordered Moshen Mahdawi to be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, according to court documents. Moshen, a Palestinian immigrant and activist at Columbia University, was among numerous high-profile foreign students accused of having pro-Hamas sympathies and detained by immigration agents.
In his ruling, Crawford deemed Mahdawi not to be a flight risk and his release to be in the public interest.
“His continued detention would likely have a chilling effect on protected speech, which is squarely against the public interest,” the Obama-appointed judge wrote. “And continuing to detain him would not benefit the public in any way, as Mr. Mahdawi appears not to be either a flight risk or a danger to the community.”
“Finally, Mr. Mahdawi’s release will benefit his community, which appears to deeply cherish him and value him,” Crawford continued.
ICE agents arrested Mahdawi on April 14 at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont after completing what he thought was an interview for his naturalization process, according to court documents. The arresting agents gave him a Notice to Appear document stating that he was deportable because the Secretary of State determined that his presence and activities in the country “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”
Born and raised in the West Bank, the 34-year-old Mahdawi legally entered the U.S. in 2014 and had been a permanent resident since 2015, according to court documents. Since 2021, he has been an undergraduate at Columbia University and planned to begin a graduate program at the school in September.
While a student, Mahdawi became a leading figure in the anti-Israel protest movement that engulfed Columbia’s campus amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Throughout 2024, anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University illegally occupied campus property and became so aggressive that school officials were eventually forced to cancel in-person classes and also nix its university-wide commencement ceremony. When pro-Palestine protesters went so far as to take over a campus building, the New York Police Department got involved and made arrests.
While his supporters have cast him as a peaceful individual who advocates for non-violence, the Trump administration and other watchdogs have pointed to past interviews, speeches and allegations that suggest he is a Hamas sympathizer who holds a disdain for Israelis.
The Canary Mission, a group that tracks anti-Semitism and has amassed an extensive list on Mahdawi, highlighted an interview he gave following the Oct. 7 attack in which he refused to condemn the massacre and instead described Hamas as “a product of the Israeli occupation.” Canary Mission also documented other actions and statements by Mahdawi, such as him allegedly celebrating a terrorist who murdered Israeli Jews in 1978 and serving as a leader of the pro-Hamas student encampment at Columbia University in 2024.
In documents submitted to court, the Trump administration pointed to an incident in 2015 in which Mahdawi visited a Vermont gun store and allegedly told the owner that he “had considerable firearm experience and used to build modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine.” The gun store owner told law enforcement that Mahdawi allegedly had a similar conversation with another gun enthusiast.
Mahdawi was just the latest in a string of allegedly pro-Hamas foreign protesters to be arrested and ordered removed by the administration.
Immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a friend of Mahdawi and another leader of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, in March and have since kept him at a detention facility in Louisiana. ICE agents have also detained Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and researcher at Georgetown University, and arrested Leqaa Kordia, another Palestinian from the West Bank, after her student visa expired and was previously arrested for her alleged participation in pro-Hamas activity at Columbia University.
While Mahdawi is permitted to leave his home state of Vermont and return to Columbia University in New York City, federal prosecutors are able to appeal his release. After leaving the courtroom Wednesday, the Palestinian activist appeared to address the Trump administration directly.
“I am not afraid of you,” according to the Associated Press. “If there is no fear, what is it replaced with? Love. Love is our way.”
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