Federal judge orders release of Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student arrested and detained by masked immigration agents after his naturalization interview in Vermont, has been released from detention while his case proceeds.

U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said Wednesday that Mahdawi’s detention for two weeks, “so far demonstrates great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime.”

Talking to supporters outside the Vermont federal courthouse, Mahdawi said his release sends a message that, “we, the people, will hold the Constitution accountable for the principles and values that we believe in.”

Mahdawi’s release comes with some conditions: He must stay in his home state of Vermont, though he is allowed to travel to New York City for his schooling and to meetings with his attorneys.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mahdawi is a green-card holder and lawful permanent U.S. resident who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

The Trump administration has asserted that Mahdawi’s presence undermines its effort to combat antisemitism, NPR reported earlier this week.

His attorneys have said he was detained in retaliation for exercising his free speech rights in advocating for Palestinian human rights during campus protests last year against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

They acknowledged there’s a long road ahead on the case but celebrated the judge’s decision.

Mahdawi remained defiant on Wednesday.

“And I am saying it, clear and loud,” he said. “To President Trump and his Cabinet, I’m not afraid of you.”

Some of Mahdawi’s supporters quietly cried and held hands in the courtroom as Crawford read his decision, according to a reporter with Vermont Public Radio who was in the courtroom.