Judge sets free Palestinian student Trump is trying to deport

A federal judge ordered the release Wednesday of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student the Trump administration has been trying to deport for pro-Palestine activism, saying the government appeared to be trying to silence him.

Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who sits in Vermont, said Mr. Mahdawi is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, and indeed said his release would actually be a benefit to the community because it might spark others to speak up about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“His continued detention would likely have a chilling effect on protected speech,” the judge said, adding that Mr. Mahdawi’s release would also “benefit his community, which appears to deeply cherish and value him.”

Mr. Mahdawi’s case had become a touchstone for immigration activists and pro-Palestinian groups, both of whom say the Trump administration has been overzealous in its pursuit of foreign students who took part in protests against Israel.

After being released, Mr. Mahdawi spoke to a crowd outside the courthouse.

“To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering; and I see freedom and it is very, very soon,” he said.

Mr. Mahdawi was born in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory that Israel controls. He has been in the U.S. for more than a decade, and was attending Columbia University where he was a leader in that school’s unruly protests against Israel.

He was arrested last month when he showed up for a naturalization interview.

The State Department, citing foreign policy concerns over Mr. Mahdawi’s activism, revoked his immigrant visa to the U.S. and he is now in deportation proceedings. An immigration judge in Louisiana, who is overseeing the case, has so far upheld the government’s move.

But Judge Crawford claimed jurisdiction for the U.S. District Court in Vermont, where Mr. Mahdawi has a residence and where he was at the time of the naturalization interview.

The judge said his review of Mr. Mahdawi’s history shows someone who has been “outspoken” in opposing the war in Gaza but has sought common ground between pro-Israel and anti-Israel voices.

Trump officials have pointed to what they saw as troubling factors in Mr. Mahdawi’s past.

They said two informants came forward in 2015 accusing him of incendiary statements about wanting to “kill Jews” around the time he visited a gun store.

He also quarreled with his then-wife during their separation in 2018, and she surrendered a gun to police for safekeeping. He was stopped at the border for carrying drugs in 2019.

Mr. Mahdawi denied threatening Jewish people. He said the 2019 matter did not involve illegal drugs. That case was handled in a diversionary agreement and the offense has been expunged, Judge Crawford said.

The judge said the government asserted it had other nonpublic information. But Judge Crawford said if it was significant, the FBI would have pursued it.

At several points in his ruling, Judge Crawford quoted from other court precedents, including a 1953 Supreme Court ruling that said “resident aliens” have the same First Amendment rights as citizens — though Judge Crawford used brackets to strike the word “aliens” and insert “noncitizens” instead.

The government had begged the judge to delay Mr. Mahdawi’s release for a week, which could have given the administration a chance to appeal the release.

Judge Crawford rebuffed the request.

The Trump administration had argued Judge Crawford didn’t have jurisdiction, citing federal law that largely limits district courts’ ability to meddle in deportation matters before the immigration courts, which are a separate entity under the Justice Department.

Mr. Mahdawi’s lawyers say his arrest and detention were spurred by his pro-Palestinian activities, which they said were protected by the Constitution.

“Nobody should fear detention for exercising their rights under the First Amendment,” said Nathan Freed Wessler from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Activists celebrated Mr. Mahdawi’s release as a major defeat for the administration.

“The Trump administration must stop abducting and disappearing college students because they dared to criticize U.S. support for the Israeli government’s war crimes in Gaza,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

CAIR said it is now looking for the release of other high-profile activists, including Ruymesa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil.

Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said the government should toss its case against Mr. Mahdawi and he should be allowed to pursue his application for U.S. citizenship.

Mr. Awawdeh also accused the Trump administration of “weaponization” of the State Department.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the name of the U.S. district judge overseeing the case. The story has been updated with Judge Crawford’s written ruling.