Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi released on bail from DHS detention, tells Trump 'not afraid of you'

The Columbia University student recently detained by federal immigration authorities while in Vermont is free on bail Wednesday, following a federal judge ordering his release. 

The student, Mohsen Mahdawi, was detained April 14 by Department of Homeland Security agents during an immigrant  naturalization interview in Vermont.  

Mahdawi is a 34-year-old U.S. permanent resident who was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank. He had been held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in St. Albans, Vermont, according to NBC News. 

Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered the release of Mahdawi from prison on bail, pending the resolution of his habeas petition – a legal request to challenge the legality of a detention or imprisonment.

Crawford denied the federal government's request to issue a stay to his order to pause Mahdawi's release from prison for seven days.

"I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you," Mahdawi said Wednesday outside the Vermont courthouse after his release, NBC also reports.