A Columbia University student who was detained by U.S. authorities for his role in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations and released on bail on Wednesday after two weeks in detention says he is not afraid of the Trump administration.
“I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” he told reporters outside a Vermont courthouse on Wednesday.
Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Colchester, Vt., after attending a citizenship interview on April 14, over government claims that his activism posed a threat to national security.
According to a recent court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He has been a green card holder since 2015.
Mahdawi recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master’s degree program there in the fall. He is described in the court filing as a committed Buddhist who believes in “non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion,” the Associated Press says.
People take part in a protest to demand the release of Palestinian activist and Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi/.
Mostafa Bassim / Getty Images
Mahdawi is the first of multiple students arrested for publicly defending the Palestinian cause to be released. Fellow former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE in March under similar circumstances, but remains in a facility in Louisiana.
Mahdawi walked free on Wednesday alongside hundreds of supporters who were heard chanting “No fear” and “Free Palestine.” He also made a speech encouraging people to defend democracy and stand up for human rights.
“Never give up on the idea that justice will prevail,” he said. “We want to stand up for humanity, because the rest of the world — not only Palestine — is watching us. And what is going to happen in America is going to affect the rest of the world.”
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said in Mahdawi’s release order that his lawyers made a “substantial claim that the government arrested him to stifle speech with which it disagrees.”
“Even if he were a firebrand, his conduct is protected by the First Amendment,” the judge continued, adding that rousing political adversaries or angering the State Department doesn’t make him dangerous enough to justify detention.
U.S authorities say they have the right to remove Mahdawi from the country under the Immigration and Nationality Act because, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his presence and actions “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”
Mahdawi is set to appear remotely before an immigration judge in Louisiana on Thursday, his lawyers said.
— With files from the Associated Press