The Palestinian, who conducted protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University, was arrested on Monday at the Vermont immigration office, where he expected an interview on the finalization of US citizenship, his lawyers gave.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who had a green card since 2015, was detained at the Citizens' and Immigratory Office in Colchester, vt., By agents for immigration and accurate, his lawyers said.
The lawyers said that they did not know where it was, and submitted a petition in the federal court in search of a decision, except for the government before removing it from the state or country.
“Trump's administration detained Mohsen Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his support on behalf of Palestinians and because of his identity as a Palestinian. His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak against cruelty in gas. It is also unconstitutional.
According to the court application, Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the west shore and moved to the United States in 2014.
He recently graduated from Columbia in New York and was to graduate in May before he started the master's program there in autumn.
The petition describes him as engaged Buddhists, who believes in “not using violence and empathy as the central principle of his religion.”
Arrest “immoral, inhuman and illegal”
As a student, Mahdawi was a sincere critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024.
Co -founder of the Palestinian Union of Students in Colombia with Mahmoud Khalil, another permanent Palestinian US resident and a graduate who was recently detained by ICE.
Khalil was the first person arrested on the basis of the promised repression of President Donald Trump towards students who joined the protests of the campus against the war in Gaza.
On Friday, an immigration judge in Louisiana said that Khalil can be deported as a risk of national security.
Christopher Helala, a friend of Mahdawi, who lives close to him in Vermont, was present outside the immigration office, when Mahdawi was detained and recorded a video from Mahdawi, which was taken out by the authorities.
In a film that Helali published on social media on Monday, Mahdawi is shown as a room sign with his hands and driven to the car.
Helala described Mahdawi as a peaceful demonstrator who worked on supporting the dialogue about the fight of Palestinians in his homeland.
Helala said that he and Mahdawi were aware that Mahdawi could be stopped today and that his friend had gone forward with this meeting anyway.
“And rightly, he got angry with what was happening around him. But he was very determined in coming to this interview and coming today, because he did nothing wrong and was a citizen observing the law or soon the citizen,” said Helali.
Vermont Congress delegation issued a statement condemning Mahdawi's arrest, saying that instead of taking one of the last steps in his civic trial, he was handcuffed by armed officers with their faces.
“This is immoral, inhuman and illegal. Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be granted in the appropriate trial and immediately released from custody,” said the statement of Senator Berni Sanders, senator Peter Welch and representative of Becca Balint.