Appeals Court Orders Pro-Palestinian Activist Mohsen Mahdawi Jailed
A federal appeals court ruled that pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi must pursue release from immigration detention through administrative channels, reversing a lower court order that freed him.
The Manhattan-based Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered its decision Tuesday in the case of Mohsen Mahdawi, a 35-year-old West Bank-born permanent resident who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last April. According to the three-judge panel, Kaelan Deese reports in Washington Examiner, Mahdawi’s claims should have been resolved through immigration court proceedings rather than in federal district court.
Writing for the panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Debra Livingston, appointed by President George W. Bush, concluded that the district court overstepped its authority by ruling on the merits of Mahdawi’s detention without first determining whether it had jurisdiction to hear the case.
Mahdawi was arrested when he appeared for an interview related to his citizenship application in Vermont. He had gained prominence through his involvement in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University during 2024.
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford, appointed by President Barack Obama, had ordered Mahdawi released on bond approximately two weeks after his arrest. Crawford determined that Mahdawi posed no flight risk and that noncitizens enjoy First Amendment speech protections. The appeals court reversed that decision on jurisdictional grounds but did not order Mahdawi returned to custody.
The ruling forms part of an escalating legal confrontation over the Trump administration’s initiative to remove noncitizens who participated in anti-Israel campus activism. The administration maintains that certain activists’ presence in the United States may undermine American foreign policy interests, while civil liberties organizations characterize the policy as punishment for constitutionally protected expression.
Through his legal representatives, Mahdawi has presented himself as a peaceful Buddhist opposed to violence. However, his activities have attracted scrutiny from organizations monitoring anti-Israel activism. Canary Mission, which maintains profiles of alleged antisemitic activists, has documented Mahdawi’s statements following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, including his claim that Hamas is a product of Israeli occupation.
Federal prosecutors have also referenced allegations stemming from Mahdawi’s 2015 visit to a Vermont firearms store. Court filings indicate the store owner informed law enforcement that Mahdawi claimed to possess extensive firearms experience and to have constructed modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while in Palestinian territory. The owner stated Mahdawi allegedly made comparable remarks to another firearms enthusiast.
Mahdawi has not faced criminal charges.
The Tuesday decision mirrors an earlier ruling this year concerning Mahmoud Khalil, another Columbia-affiliated anti-Israel activist who secured release from immigration detention after more than 100 days. The Philadelphia-based Third Circuit determined in January that Khalil’s claims similarly belonged in the immigration system before reaching federal court.
Brett Schumate, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, declared on X that the decision represented a significant victory for the rule of law, stating the Second Circuit made clear that habeas corpus procedures cannot be exploited to circumvent Congress’s immigration removal-review framework.
With information from Washington Examiner
