The Trump administration is defending its decision to deport a student at Columbia University by claiming that his actions might potentially disrupt the Middle East peace process. In a memo signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the administration asserts that Mohsen Mahdawi, a 34-year-old green-card holder who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, has undermined the Middle East peace process and threatened the US goal of resolving conflict in Israel and Gaza peacefully.

Mahdavi was arrested at an immigration services center in Vermont, where he had gone to complete his citizenship process. Instead of taking a citizenship test, as he had expected, he was detained and handcuffed by immigration officers.

Rubio’s memo justifying the arrest references the same authority used to detain Mahdawi’s fellow Columbia protester and green-card holder, Mahmoud Khalil. In both cases, Rubio cites a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that allows him to deport any person who is not a US citizen or national.

In Khalil’s case, Rubio argued that Khalil’s activism undermined the US goal of combatting antisemitism, a reasoning that is currently being challenged in court. However, the memo addressing Mahdawi’s case is more specific, noting that Mahdawi had engaged in threatening rhetoric and intimidation of pro-Israeli bystanders, reinforcing antisemitic sentiment and undermining efforts to protect Jewish students from violence, according to the New York Times.

The state department has declined to comment, and Mahdawi’s lawyers have not yet responded to the Guardian’s request for comment. According to court documents, Mahdawi was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank before moving to the US in 2014. He became a lawful permanent resident of the US in 2015 and was expected to graduate from Columbia in May, having been accepted into a master’s program at the university’s school of international and public affairs.

Mahdawi’s lawyers state that as a student at Columbia, he was an outspoken critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and was involved in organizing student protests on campus until March 2024. Since then, he has not been involved in organizing any activities.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/15/mohsen-mahdawi-columbia-detained