ICE Seizes Palestinian Columbia Student After Summoning Him for Citizenship Test

Immigration officials abducted a Palestinian Columbia University student, Mohsen Mahdawi, in Vermont on Monday, after they summoned him for what was supposed to be his final test to obtain his American citizenship.

Mahdawi, a green card holder, received an email this month from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) notifying him of an interview that was supposed to be his final step to become a citizen, as first reported by The Intercept. Prior to this, he had been sheltering in place for fear of being abducted by immigration officials, who had abducted fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil last month.

Instead of conducting the interview, masked immigration officials in plainclothes detained Mahdawi when he arrived. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun the process to deport Mahdawi to the occupied West Bank.

A Vermont District judge has issued a temporary order to prevent Mahdawi from being deported or removed from Vermont. However, the Trump administration has been openly defying court orders preventing them from performing deportations.

Like Khalil and others abducted by the Trump administration, Mahdawi is being detained for speaking out against Israel’s violence against Palestinians, his attorney, Luna Droubi, has said. Droubi has said that immigration officials have not confirmed Mahdawi’s location.

“The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian,” Droubi said in a statement, per CNN. “His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional.”

If Mahdawi were deported to the occupied West Bank, he would face Israel’s forced displacement campaign, including increased violence against Palestinians by the Israeli military and settlers.

“It’s kind of a death sentence,” Mahdawi told The Intercept. “Because my people are being killed unjustly in an indiscriminate way.”

Mahdawi had helped to lead pro-Palestine protests at Columbia last spring, and is one of nine Columbia students targeted for deportation by the administration. In interviews with the media, Mahdawi had been critical of the university and the general crackdown on pro-Palestine activists under the Biden administration.

“The climate is in a violation of the principle of free speech that universities usually take pride of,” Mahdawi told Al Jazeera’s “The Take” in April 2024. “We have seen what is called the Palestinian exception, where you’re allowed to protest any other issue, but when it comes to Palestine, there is an exception that you should not and you’re not allowed to protest.”

Mahdawi was visited by a FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer in late 2024, and has been targeted by pro-Israel vigilante groups like Betar and Canary Mission.

Betar — which has given the Trump administration lists of pro-Palestine activists to be targeted for deportation — posted on X about Mahdawi last month, calling for him to be deported after Khalil’s detention. The group said that it had “reason to believe” that Mahdawi and Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha would soon be deported.

Prior to his detention, Mahdawi had reached out to Columbia administrators and his congressional representatives, Senators Bernie Sanders (I) and Peter Welch (D) and Rep. Becca Balint (D), for help. The congressional offices have said they are on standby, per The Intercept, and the lawmakers put out a statement condemning his arrest on Monday. “Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention.”