A federal judge on April 30 ordered the release of a Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University and was arrested by immigration authorities during his naturalization interview.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford of the U.S. District Court in Vermont ruled that Mohsen Mahdawi, a 34-year-old permanent resident, may return to his home in Vermont and continue his studies at Columbia, where he is expected to graduate this spring while his case proceeds.
Mahdawi grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 2014, court filings suggest. He was arrested on April 14 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont, during what was supposed to be one of his final steps in becoming a U.S. citizen….