Palestinian activist expecting US citizenship interview is arrested instead by ICE
A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested on Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalising his US citizenship, his lawyers said.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015, was detained at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, his lawyers said.
The lawyers said they do not know where he is. They filed a petition in federal court seeking an order barring the government from removing him from the state or country.
“The Trump administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian. His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional,” lawyer Luna Droubi said in an email.
The petition describes him as a committed Buddhist who believes in “non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion”.