Judge blocks President Donald Trump deportation of Columbia protest leader
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A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a pro-Palestinian protest leader who led anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University.
Judge Nina Froes ended the case, saying federal authorities made a procedural error and did not certify the document they tried to introduce into evidence.
“I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and standing firm against the government’s attempts to trample on the legal process,” Mahdawi said in a statement. “This decision is an important step towards supporting what fear seeks to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice.”
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin condemned the decision Tuesday and said the Trump administration remains committed to revoking Mahdawi’s visa.
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Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi will not be deported after Immigration Judge Nina Froes ruled the government failed to provide sufficient evidence. (Amanda Swinhart/AP)
“No amount of activist judges, neither this nor the other, will stop us from doing this,” he said.
Froes’ ruling concerns a document submitted as evidence by federal attorneys. The document cites Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying non-citizens could be deported from the country if their presence harms US foreign policy interests.
Froes wrote in his decision that government lawyers submitted a photocopy of the document to the court, but they did not approve it under federal law.
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Mohsen Mahdawi, accused of making anti-Semitic statements and leading Columbia University protests, won his deportation case after the judge found the evidence insufficient. (REUTERS/Ryan Murphy)
Mahdawi, 34, was detained during a citizenship appointment in Vermont in April 2025 and remained in custody for more than two weeks. He was later released on bail after filing a habeas corpus petition.
A federal judge ruled that he would not be deported or removed from the state, and he was released under an order issued by U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford in Burlington.
According to the court file dated 2025, Mahdawi Palestinian Student Union at Columbia Following the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. He founded the group together with Mahmud Halil.
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Mahdawi’s deportation case also stems in part from allegations that she was interrogated by the FBI in 2015. anti-semitic statements At a gun store and firearms museum in Vermont.
According to previously cited court documents Fox News DigitalThe store owner said Mahdawi expressed interest in purchasing firearms, including a sniper rifle and an automatic weapon.
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The owner claimed to have experience making modified 9mm submachine guns “to kill Jews while in Palestine.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
