On Monday, Columbia University student and Palestinian national Mohsen Mahdawi was detained by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents during what was expected to be a routine U.S. citizenship interview. According to his attorney, Luna Droubi, Mahdawi—a lawful permanent resident since 2014—was taken into custody under a rarely used provision of immigration law that allows removal of individuals deemed to pose serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.
Accusations and Background
Mahdawi, who was born and raised in the West Bank, is a co-founder of the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia University and a vocal supporter of anti-Israel campus demonstrations. He has been accused by federal authorities of promoting extremist rhetoric, supporting Hamas—a U.S.-designated terrorist organization—and engaging in religiously motivated harassment.
According to the restraining order filed by his attorney, Mahdawi had taken a break from activism as of March 2024 and was preparing to re-enroll at Columbia for a master’s program in the fall. However, video footage now circulating on social media shows DHS officers escorting him out of a federal building in Vermont, handcuffed and placed into an unmarked vehicle.
Legal and Political Fallout
Federal officials acted just days after another Palestinian student, Mahmoud Khalil, was ruled deportable by an immigration judge in Louisiana for similar national security concerns. The Trump administration has adopted a firm stance on removing foreign nationals involved in extremist activism, particularly on college campuses where anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas rhetoric has escalated in recent months.
Despite the legal basis for his detention, the move has sparked backlash from progressive lawmakers. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congresswoman Becca Balint (D-VT) condemned the arrest in a joint statement, claiming the incident lacked transparency and violated due process.
DHS and National Security Context
The Trump administration is reportedly invoking provisions of immigration law aimed at countering threats to U.S. foreign policy and public safety. These include measures that allow for expedited removal when individuals are affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations or promote ideologies in support of such groups.
Hamas, the organization Mahdawi is alleged to have supported, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department in 1997. Public statements made by Mahdawi in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians have been widely cited in legal filings and government briefings as justification for the federal action.
Unless a federal judge intervenes in response to Droubi’s emergency filings, Mahdawi is expected to be placed into deportation proceedings, potentially joining a growing list of foreign activists facing legal consequences for actions deemed to jeopardize national security or violate immigration law.