Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi graduated from Columbia University on Monday, just over two weeks after being released from US immigration detention following a controversial arrest that drew national attention.
Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, a legal US resident and green card holder, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on April 14 during a routine naturalisation interview in Colchester, Vermont.
The arrest came amid a wider federal crackdown on foreign students accused of participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
He was released on April 30 by order of a federal judge in Vermont, who criticised the government’s actions and compared them to McCarthy-era repression. Mohsen Mahdawi had not been charged with any criminal offence.
On Monday, he crossed the graduation stage at Columbia’s School of General Studies, receiving a bachelor’s degree in philosophy to loud applause. He wore a keffiyeh – a traditional Palestinian scarf – as he waved to the crowd, blew a kiss, and bowed.
“It’s very mixed emotions,” Mohsen Mahdawi said in an interview. “The Trump administration wanted to rob me of this opportunity. They wanted me to be in a prison, to not have education, to not have joy or celebration.”
After the ceremony, he joined a vigil outside Columbia’s gates, holding a photo of his classmate, Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in federal detention in Louisiana. Mahmoud Khalil was set to graduate later this week with a master’s degree in international studies.
Mohsen Mahdawi is one of several international students detained in recent months under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting individuals deemed to have “hostile attitudes” toward US foreign policy.
The administration has argued that participation in pro-Palestinian protests constitutes a national security concern.
A letter calling for Mohsen Mahdawi’s deportation, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accused him of using threatening language towards pro-Israeli individuals on campus.
However, video footage from November 2023, reviewed by CBS News, appeared to show Mahdawi intervening against antisemitic comments made by another protester.
The legal justification for his detention drew criticism from civil rights advocates.
The government cited a rarely used provision that allows the Secretary of State to revoke a person's immigration status if they are deemed a threat to US foreign policy.
Mohsen Mahdawi, who had previously been accepted into a master’s programme in peacekeeping and conflict resolution at Columbia, said he is now reconsidering his future.
He recently learned that he will not receive financial aid to continue his studies.
“The senior administration is selling the soul of this university to the Trump administration,” he said, referring to Columbia’s response to student activism and the detentions. He also criticised the university for placing its Middle Eastern studies department under new leadership, allegedly in response to political pressure.
Columbia University has not publicly commented on Mahdawi’s case.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding his immigration status and academic future, Mahdawi said he plans to continue advocating for Palestinian rights.
“When I walked the stage, the message was clear: they were cheering for justice, for peace, for humanity,” he said. “Not the Trump administration, not Columbia University, not any power in this world will stop us from continuing to be human.”
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