A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release Wednesday of Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student who was arrested two weeks ago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following his citizenship interview, while his case proceeds.
“The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime,” U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said at a hearing Wednesday. “Mr. Mahdawi, I will order you released.”
Mahdawi, addressing supporters outside the courthouse following his release, called the judge’s decision “a light of hope.”
“Judge Crawford, who ruled to release me against all of the heinous accusations, horrible attacks, chills of speech, First Amendment violations — he had made a very brave decision to let me out,” Mahdawi said. “And this is what justice is. And for anybody who’s doubting justice, this is a light of hope, a hope and faith in the justice system in America.”
“To President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said.
Saying that Mahdawi presents no flight risk, Judge Crawford said Mahdawi should remain in Vermont, where he has a home, and attend school remotely — but said Mahdawi can travel to New York City to meet with his lawyers and go to his university.
Mahdawi, who co-founded a university organization called the Palestinian Student Union with detained Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank before moving in 2014 to the U.S., where he has been a legal resident for the last 10 years.
Mohsen Mahdawi speaks outside the courthouse after a judge released the Palestinian student activist, April 30, 2025 in Burlington, Vt.
Amanda Swinhart/AP
Mahdawi, who is expected to graduate from Columbia next month, was arrested at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont, where he was taking his last step in the process to become a U.S. citizen.
Judge Crawford noted at Wednesday’s hearing that Mahdawi received letters of support from over 90 community members, including members of the Jewish community, “who have in a consistent pattern described him as peaceful.”
His lawyers believe that, like Khalil, he is being targeted by the Trump administration under Immigration and Nationality Act section 237(a)(4)(C)(i), which assert that the secretary of state can deem a person deportable if they have reasonable ground to believe that the person’s presence or activities in the U.S. could have adverse foreign policy consequences.
At Columbia, Mahdawi was an “outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and an activist and organizer in student protests on Columbia’s campus until March of 2024, after which he took a step back and has not been involved in organizing,” according to a habeas petition obtained by ABC News.
His attorneys have argued he was being detained based on his First Amendment rights, in violation of the Constitution.
“I think Mr. Mahdawi has made substantial claims that his detention was in retaliation for his protected speech,” Judge Crawford said Wednesday.
One of Mahdawi’s attorneys told ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis on Wednesday that the judge agreed that the student was detained “solely on the basis of his speech.”
“He is a Palestinian man and grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp and spoke out about peace in the region and on behalf of Palestinians,” the attorney, Luni Droubi, said. “So today, the court told the government that they cannot detain individuals solely because they’re engaged in lawful speech. And that’s exactly what Mr. Mahdawi was engaged in.”
Droubi said that she believes what happened to Mahdawi is “terrifying everyone.”
“Can I go to my naturalization appointment? Should I stop protesting Palestine or human rights?,” Droubi said. “Any number of things … what’s next? What topic? Global justice, climate justice. What should I be afraid of saying?”
Droubi said Mahdawi’s release “is just the beginning.”
“As you know, there are many other cases like this,” Droubi said. “This is just his release. We still have to fight the case, which we feel confident about and believe we will succeed.”