Columbia University's philosophy department has strongly rebuffed the Trump administration's detention and attempted deportation of one of its students, urging the Ivy League school to come to the assistance of Mohsen Mahdawi.
"We express our horror and dismay at the fact that a legal resident of the United States — someone who has been accused of no crime — should be detained in this manner," it said in a statement posted prominently on its website on Wednesday.
"We call upon the Provost and Acting President of Columbia University to assist by all means, including through the provision of material and legal resources, any Columbia student targeted or detained—and seemingly only for having exercised their right to the free and peaceful expression of political opinion," it added.
Mahdawi was arrested on Monday as he attended an appointment for his US citizenship in the northern state of Vermont. The Palestinian student is a legal permanent resident of the US who has resided in the country for a decade.
Mahdawi served as a prominent campus leader during the 2023-2024 student-led demonstrations and was featured in a 60 Minutes interview in December 2023 in which he sharply denounced anti-Semitism, saying, "To be anti-Semitic is unjust. And the fight for the freedom of Palestine, and the fight against anti-Semitism go hand-in-hand. Because injustice is a threat to justice everywhere."
Mahdawi was born and raised in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank before he came to the US in 2014, and is currently studying to complete his undergraduate degree in philosophy.
Like others who have been detained, including Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, Mahdawi has not been charged with a crime. Instead, the Trump administration is seeking to deport international students on claims they pose a threat to US foreign policy and national security.
An internal State Department memo reviewed by the New York Times suggests the Trump administration is arguing that Mahdawi's presence in the US could "potentially undermine" the Middle East peace process. Rubio wrote that the types of protests that Mahdawi led could reinforce anti-Semitism globally and threaten the US' foreign policy goal of ending Israel's war in Gaza "peacefully," according to the Times.
Rubio alleged that Mahdawi "engaged in threatening rhetoric and intimidation of pro-Israeli bystanders." The top diplomat did not elaborate.
One of many
Mahdawi is one of a growing number of students and graduates who have been detained by the Trump administration after voicing opposition to Israel's indiscriminate war on besieged Gaza. The administration has sought to cast the detained individuals, whom it wants to deport, as anti-Semitic and supporters of terrorism.
On March 8, authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, who led the pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University last Spring. Trump hailed his arrest and said it was the "first of many."
Trump, without evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas. Khalil denies links to the resistance group.
A few days after Khalil's arrest, Trump's claim came due after another pro-Palestine student, Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, was arrested. His attorney said he was arrested because of the Palestinian identity of his wife.
After the arrest of Suri, authorities went after another pro-Palestine student, Momodou Taal, asking him to turn himself in.
On March 25, Yunseo Chung, a Columbia University student, said she sued the Trump administration to stop her deportation from the US over her participation in a pro-Palestine protest last Spring.
Also on March 25, Ozturk, who is a Tufts University PhD student, was kidnapped in broad daylight by US authorities over criticising Israel's carnage in Gaza.
Other students, like Leqaa Kordia, Ranjani Srinivasan, and Alireza Doroudi have either been detained or self-deported.
