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Mahdawi release reversed
A federal appeals court in the U.S. overturned a lower court ruling that had released Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention, with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a Vermont district judge lacked jurisdiction and that the case should have been handled in immigration court.
The appeals court ordered the district judge to dismiss Mahdawi’s lawsuit challenging his detention, and the ruling came after Mahdawi, 35, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a citizenship interview in Vermont where he lives.
The decision also left open further legal steps, with the panel noting Mahdawi could seek federal court review only after he exhausted options within immigration courts.
Mahdawi said in a statement that the outcome was a “grave setback” for constitutional freedoms, adding, “I am confident justice will ultimately prevail.”
ACLU and Trump rationale
The Trump administration justified Mahdawi’s arrest by claiming his pro-Palestinian activism could undermine peacemaking deals in the Middle East, while Mahdawi and his supporters said he was targeted for protected speech in violation of the First Amendment.
Michael Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and one of Mahdawi’s lawyers, said the government was claiming “the unprecedented power to detain people for months or even years on end to censor their speech, with no ability to challenge their detention in court,” and called it “This is as absurd as it is dangerous."
The appeals panel did not address the merits of Mahdawi’s claim that he was unconstitutionally targeted for criticizing Israel, but instead found that the Vermont judge exceeded his authority by intervening before the immigration court system had fully navigated the case.
In a separate framing, Courthouse News reported that U.S. Circuit Judge Debra Livingston wrote that “We conclude that the district court should not have reached this question because it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the habeas petition.”
Next steps and stakes
The ruling came as Mahdawi was already appealing an order of removal issued against him in immigration court, and the appeals court’s jurisdictional decision meant the federal district court could not intervene at that stage of deportation proceedings.
The Boston Globe reported that the appeals court ordered Geoffrey Crawford to dismiss Mahdawi’s habeas petition, which could result in him being detained once more, while Mahdawi’s attorneys vowed to appeal and said the government had “no lawful basis to redetain or deport” their client.
Al Jazeera said the decision removes the order allowing him to be released even though it does not order immediate re-arrest, and it described the case as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against pro-Palestinian student protesters.
Al Jazeera also quoted Mahdawi’s earlier accusation after the Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated deportation proceedings in May, when he said, “The government is trying to punish and deport me, a stateless Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank, because it opposes my peaceful advocacy for human dignity and equal rights for Palestinians.”
