The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a graduate student at Columbia University who was detained last April for his outspoken support for Palestinian rights. Mahdawi is a green card holder who grew up in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
At Columbia, he served as co-president of the Palestinian Student Union and president of the Buddhist Association. In April of 2025, masked and hooded ICE agents detained him when he appeared for what he believed would be a naturalization interview in Vermont. He spent two weeks in ICE custody before a federal judge ordered his release.