Columbia University student activist Mohsen Mahdawi was released on bail on Wednesday on the order of Vermont District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford, pending the decision on his habeas corpus petition.
Mahdawi, who was arrested on April 14 for undermining US foreign policy and counter-antisemitism actions with his pro-Palestinian campus activism, emerged from the Vermont court to the cheers of supporters, according to a video published by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Wearing a keffiyeh, the 34-year-old Mahdawi raised both hands in a gesture of victory.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has championed Mahdawi’s case, the activist led his supporters in chants while declaring: “The people united will never be defeated.”
“We are pro-peace and anti-war,” Mahdawi reportedly said. “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom, and it is very, very soon.”
CAIR calls it an 'important victory'
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed the court order, calling it an “important victory in the struggle for not only [Mahdawi’s] freedom but also for a broader struggle to protect the First Amendment.”
“Every person in America, including immigrants, has a constitutional right to free speech,” said CAIR. “[President Donald] Trump’s administration must stop abducting and disappearing college students because they dared to criticize US support for the Israeli government’s war crimes in Gaza.”
The green card holder was arrested by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents while he was attending a citizenship interview, with his deportation sought under the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
“The secretary of state has determined" that his “presence and activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise compelling US foreign policy interests,” was the explanation given for the move.
A judge ruled on the same day of his arrest that Mahdawi could not be removed from Vermont while the petitions against his arrest were being considered.
Petitions against Mahdawi’s detainment have argued that his arrest was a punitive measure over his activism. His detainment was in violation of a resident’s First Amendment right to protected speech and due process, they said.
The government said that its actions were legitimate under the INA and that the Vermont court lacked jurisdiction over the matter.
Mahdawi has been a student and activist at various universities in the West Bank and the US since 2014. He was the head of the Fatah Student Movement at Birzeit University in the West Bank, and at Columbia, he was one of the leaders of pro-Palestinian protests. However, Mahdawi said that he stepped back from the role in March 2024.
Mahdawi reportedly cofounded the Dar: Palestinian Student Society alongside activist Mahmoud Khalil, a leader at Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest, who was similarly detained on March 8.
Khalil’s case is ongoing, with a New Jersey District Court ruling on Tuesday that the court has jurisdiction over his case, and Khalil can move forward with a suit seeking an injunction against the government policy.
CAIR on Wednesday renewed its calls for the release of Khalil, as well as Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested on March 25 after allegedly engaging in antisemitic activities and supporting terrorist organizations.
Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president, expressed concern about the detainment of Mahdawi and Khalil in a Monday statement, which came as part of an update on the US government’s crackdown on radicalism and criminality by foreign university students.
Shipman said that many of the student visas across the US had been restored after a wave of cancellations, and offered resources for international students during the uncertain period.