Hawzah News Agency- Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian-origin Green Card holder with a decade of legal residency in the U.S., was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on April 14. During his initial court hearing on Wednesday, the judge issued an order to extend temporary detention, mandating his retention at a Vermont state detention facility until the next hearing, scheduled for the following week.
Mahdawi’s lawyers say he was detained in retaliation for his speech advocating for Palestinian human rights.
“What the government provided thus far only establishes that the only basis they have to currently detaining him in the manner they did is his lawful speech,” attorney Luna Droubi said after the hearing. “We intend on being back in one week’s time to free Mohsen.”
In its recent legal brief to the court, the government emphasized that Mahdawi’s detention complies with constitutional principles and that reviewing the timing and procedures for initiating deportation cases lies outside the jurisdiction of district courts.
According to Mohsen Mahdawi’s lawyers, prior to his detention, he had answered all questions and signed a document explicitly committing to defend the U.S. constitution and laws. However, masked agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abruptly entered the interview room, shackled him without presentingany legal justification, and transferred him to a detention center.
The case’s attorney warned in a statement to reporters: Detaining elite students with no criminal records is a blatant violation of civil rights. Not a single provision in U.S. immigration law justifies this arbitrary action.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel’s war in Gaza.
According to the court filing, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master’s degree program there in the fall.
As a student, Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024.
On Tuesday, members of Congress from Massachusetts traveled to Louisiana to meet with Ozturk and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Jim McGovern expressed concern at a news conference Wednesday that the students, as well as other detainees, were being deprived of nutritious meals, sleep and blankets in the cold facilities.
Khalil and Ozturk have not committed any crimes, the delegation said -- they are being unlawfully detained for exercising their right to free speech.
“They are being targeted and imprisoned because of their political views,” McGovern said.
Source: AP NEWS
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