US detains Palestinian student at citizenship interview

US officials detained Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, when he arrived for an interview for his US citizenship petition at an immigration office in Vermont state on Monday.  

Mahdawi, who was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, moved to the United States in 2014 and was granted permanent residency in 2015.

A friend of Mahdawi recorded a video of the Palestinian student being led to a car by authorities while he is seen giving a peace sign with his hands.

It was not clear where the authorities are holding Mahdawi.

Who is Mohsen Mahdawi?

Mahdawi recently completed his undergraduate coursework at Columbia and was set to graduate in May. He plans to begin a master's program at the university in the autumn, according to a court filing.

At Columbia, Mahdawi was known for his campus activism, playing a major role in organizing pro-Palestinian protests after Israel attacked Gaza in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

An outspoken critic of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia alongside Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian student detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on students who joined campus protests against the war in Gaza.

On Friday, an immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Khalil could be deported as a national security risk.

The ruling allows the Trump administration to proceed with its effort to deport foreign pro-Palestinian students who are in the US legally and have not been charged with any crimes.

Critics slam targeting of legal residents

Critics, however, have slammed the administration's approach, arguing that it's an attack on free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

"You can't disappear people for exercising their First Amendment rights," Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a video statement on Monday.

Senator Bernie Sanders and others from Vermont's Congressional delegation labeled the detention "immoral, inhumane, and illegal," saying the legal US resident should be afforded due process and released immediately.

A judge in Vermont, meanwhile, has ordered the Trump administration not to deport Mahdawi from the United States or take him out of the state of Vermont.

Edited by: Zac Crellin