Mohsen Mahdawi Released from ICE Detention
- Publish date: since 8 hours
Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was released on bail from ICE detention after a federal judge in Vermont ordered his release.
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This is the first order mandating the release of a student detained by the US President Donald Trump's administration.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford said at an April 30 hearing, "The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime. Mr. Mahdawi, I will order you released.”
The judge also said, "We are witnessing the fight for justice in America, which means a true democracy, and the fight for justice for Palestinians, which means that both liberation are interconnected, because none of us is free unless we all are.”
He added, "To President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you.”
Mahdawi, a permanent US resident and green card holder, was arrested by immigration officials on April 14 during his naturalization interview to become a US citizen.
According to a legal brief with Mahdawi's attorneys, the interview had been a trap by ICE agents who wanted to arrest Mahdawi and send him to a detention facility in Louisiana where the Trump administration is holding Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk.
A judge blocked the order directing Mahdawi's transfer out of Vermont before agents could transport him.
This article was previously published on qatarmoments. To see the original article, click here