Palestine campaigner Mohsen Mahdawi says Rubio's justification for targeting protesters is 'laughable'

Green card holder was detained for 16 days over his participation in pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University

Campaigner Mohsen Mahdawi described the US's justifications for his arrest as laughable and said that he would not be intimidated by the Trump administration. AP Photo

Mohsen Mahdawi, a US permanent resident from Palestine, has called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attempts to justify his arrest over his activism “laughable”.

Mr Rubio has said that Mr Mahdawi was “removable” under the Immigration and Nationality Act and that his actions could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise compelling US foreign policy interest”.

“A person who has been vocally advocating for justice and peace is undermining US policy?” Mr Mahdawi asked rhetorically during an interview with CBS News, his first one on-camera since he was released last week as his case continues.

In mid-April, authorities in Vermont arrested Mr Mahdawi, a Columbia University student who helped organise campus protests in support of Palestine, after he arrived at an immigration office to complete the final step before becoming a US citizen.

In addition to his comments on Mr Rubio, he also did not hesitate to criticise President Donald Trump's administration for its aggressive pursuit of student demonstrators organising protests in support of Palestinians and Gaza.

“I am not afraid of you,” he said. “There’s a philosophy of intimidation, of punitive justice. I wanted to share with them that you can do whatever you want, but you will not silence me.”

Mr Mahdawi said his release after 16 days of detention offers a ray of hope in a US justice system that he describes as under assault from the Trump White House.

Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi released from US detention

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His interview came days after judge in Vermont ordered his release.

“The two weeks of detention so far demonstrate great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime,” US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said at the hearing.

The judge added that he should remain in his home state of Vermont and attend Columbia, which is in New York, remotely, but added that he can travel to meet his legal team and go to the university when necessary.

Mr Mahdawi is a legal US resident and has lived in the US since 2014.

Making the arrest all the more curious was the fact he had walked into a federal office in Vermont for an immigration interview before being detained by plainclothes agents.

Marco Rubio comments on arrest of Turkish student from Tufts University

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“Masked agents, loaded with guns, separated me and isolated me from my lawyer. They did not allow for any conversation or let me see the order, or what was happening. I said that I am a peaceful man,” he said.

The State Department did not directly answer requests from The National to address comments from Mr Mahdawhi, explaining that as a general matter, "we do not comment on pending or ongoing litigation."

Outside the courthouse following his release, Mr Mahdawhi led supporters in chanting “The people, united, will never be defeated” and “Free Palestine”. He said people must come together in the defence of both democracy and humanity.

As a student, Mr Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and organised campus protests until March 2024. He cofounded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the US who was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Mr Mahdawi could still be deported depending on how things unfold in court, with US authorities appealing the Vermont judge’s decision.

He plans on starting his master’s degree at Columbia beginning in the autumn.

There are concerns the US State Department's apparent plan to use AI to revoke visas will disproportionately affect students taking part in demonstrations against the Israel-Gaza war. Getty

Mr Mahdawi’s detention and potential removal from the US is among many similar incidents that have taken place since US Mr Trump took office in January.

In March, Mr Rubio said that the US had revoked at least 300 visas, many to foreign students, as it cracks down on people who participated in protests against the war in Gaza.

The US State Department will reportedly soon be using artificial intelligence to potentially revoke the visas of international students accused of supporting Hamas – an idea that many legal experts say could be problematic from a due process standpoint. Tech experts have also pointed out that AI is far from perfect, and often misses nuances involved in politics, demonstrations and protests.