Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi graduates from Columbia after release from ICE detention

Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi graduated Monday from Columbia University after he was released on bail last month from federal detention while the Trump administration pursues his deportation.

“It’s very mixed emotions,” Mahdawi told The Associated Press. “The Trump administration wanted to rob me of this opportunity. They wanted me to be in a prison, in prison clothes, to not have education and to not have joy or celebration.”

Mahdawi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Columbia’s School of General Studies.

The Columbia graduate, a 34-year-old U.S. permanent resident who was born and raised in the West Bank, was detained on April 14 by Department of Homeland Security agents during an immigrant naturalization interview in Vermont. 

Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford, an Obama appointee, ordered the release of Mahdawi, pending the resolution of his habeas petition – a legal request to challenge the legality of detention or imprisonment.

Two FBI informants had alleged that Mahdawi had made comments in 2015 related to killing Jews. But the judge ruled that because the FBI had seemingly not acted upon the claims after interviewing him a decade ago, there was likely no supporting evidence for the claims.

Mahdawi has not been accused of committing a crime by federal officials, but they argued that he and other pro-Palestinian student activists should be deported for beliefs that may undermine U.S. foreign policy.

“The senior administration is selling the soul of this university to the Trump administration, participating in the destruction and the degradation of our democracy,” Mahdawi said.

He mentioned Columbia's decision to follow the Trump administration's demands, which included replacing the leadership of its Middle Eastern studies department, and the university's failure to speak out against his arrest.