US Board Reinstates Deportation Proceedings Against Pro-Palestinian Columbia Student Mohsen Mahdawi

The US Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated deportation proceedings against pro-Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, overturning an earlier decision by immigration judge Nina Froes.

“The United States Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, according to a court filing from his lawyers”

Al Jazeera

In February, Froes dropped the deportation case after the Department of Homeland Security failed to authenticate a memo allegedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Trump administration appealed.

Al Jazeera

The Board of Immigration Appeals’ action means the case will proceed under a different judge after Froes was terminated from her position.

Mahdawi’s arrest is still being challenged in federal court, so the government can’t deport him for the moment, the ACLU said.

Mahdawi, who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he attended an American citizenship interview in Vermont in mid-April last year, said the government is using immigration law to silence dissent.

In a statement shared by his legal team, he said, "The government continues to weaponize the immigration system to silence dissent," and he added that it "cannot erase the Constitution or the First Amendment, which protects free speech for all."

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The Trump administration argued for his detention by pointing to a 2015 FBI investigation in which a gun shop owner alleged Mahdawi claimed to have built machine guns in the West Bank to kill Jews, but the FBI closed the investigation and Mahdawi was never charged with any crime.

The case also turned on evidence admissibility, with Judge Nina Froes ruling the filing was relevant but "it is not admissible as it lacked proper authentication".

The reinstatement comes as the Trump administration fired immigration judges, including Nina Froes, after she blocked deportation efforts against Mahdawi in February.

“The Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against pro-Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, according to a court filing from his attorneys”

Good Morning America

The Straits Times reported that Froes was fired in April, and it said the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned her decision, reactivating the deportation proceedings.

Mahdawi’s legal team said the case is reopened through the Board’s cancellation of Froes’s prior decision, while the ACLU maintained that the government cannot deport him for the moment because the legality of his detention remains under challenge in federal court.

The dispute is framed by the administration as a threat to US foreign policy, while Mahdawi and his supporters describe it as punishment for peaceful advocacy, with Mahdawi saying, "The government is trying to punish and deport me, a stateless Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank."