Mainstream media are in an uproar over the arrest and potential deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian national who organized violent pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University and is now facing removal for violating the terms of his U.S. residency.
The United States is arguably the only country in the world where foreign residents who openly despise the nation and work against its interests are not only protected, but actively supported by leftist activists—many of whom would not last a single day under the regimes they defend.
On April 14, 2025, Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian national and lawful U.S. permanent resident, was detained by federal immigration authorities at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Colchester, Vermont.
Mahdawi had arrived for what he believed was a standard naturalization interview. Instead, he was taken into custody and placed into deportation proceedings.
Mahdawi was a co-founder of the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia University and a lead organizer of the violent campus protests that laid siege to sections of the university and drew national attention.
He co-founded the organization alongside Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian graduate student and U.S. permanent resident, who was detained by ICE and recently ruled deportable by an immigration judge in Louisiana on the grounds that he poses a national security risk.
While some activists and media outlets attempted to portray these protests as peaceful, the facts tell a different story.
Protesters forcibly occupied and barricaded campus buildings, disrupted classes, and prevented students and faculty—many of them Jewish—from accessing facilities.
Numerous reports documented harassment, intimidation, and verbal threats against Jewish students and their supporters.
As a result, Columbia University was forced to suspend in-person classes and call in law enforcement to restore order. More than 100 protesters were arrested during the operation.
According to a statement by Canary Mission—an organization that documents individuals and groups promoting hatred of the United States, Israel, and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond—Mohsen Mahdawi is a Palestinian activist and student at Columbia University with a long history of anti-Israel activity.
In late 2023, following Hamas’s brutal October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians, Mahdawi publicly justified the terrorism and called for the destruction of Israel.
These attacks, carried out by Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Israelis and included mass atrocities such as rape, beheadings, and kidnappings.
Mahdawi had previously praised Palestinian terrorists, including one responsible for murdering dozens of Israelis in a 1978 attack.
He was also affiliated with extremist groups like Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)—both known for their radical anti-Israel positions—and served as co-president of DAR Palestine, Columbia’s Palestinian student union, which supported the pro-Hamas encampment on campus in April 2024.
He has publicly supported the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and maintained ties to institutions and groups with long records of glorifying terrorism, including Birzeit University.
Under U.S. law, all individuals—citizen or non-citizen—are expected to follow the law. However, legal permanent residents (green card holders) are subject to additional immigration consequences if they engage in criminal or disruptive behavior.
Mahdawi’s arrest was consistent with this legal framework. While the federal government has not issued a detailed public explanation for his detention, it comes amid an effort by immigration authorities to address unlawful or violent conduct committed by foreign nationals on U.S. soil, particularly in cases that undermine public safety or promote extremist political agendas.
Although Mahdawi’s legal team has claimed that the arrest was politically motivated, his detention appears to be based on his actions—specifically, his role in organizing protests that violated university rules, disrupted public order, and allegedly involved hate-based harassment.
This is not a matter of free speech or peaceful protest—it is a matter of upholding the law. Mahdawi’s immigration status does not grant him immunity from the consequences of his actions.
Organizing protests that shut down campus operations, intimidate fellow students, and violate criminal laws is not protected political expression—it is unlawful conduct.
For non-citizens, such behavior is clear grounds for deportation under long-standing U.S. immigration policy.
Claims that Mahdawi has been denied due process are unfounded; under U.S. law, a trial is not required to deport someone who has violated the terms of their residency.
