Freed Palestinian activist graduates from Columbia University

WASHINGTON

Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, who was released from US immigration detention last month, graduated Monday from Columbia University.

Mahdawi, a green card holder who was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a citizenship interview on April 14 as part of a crackdown on student demonstrators, was released after an order by a US district judge in the state of Vermont on April 30.

Several students cheered for Mahdawi as he walked across the stage wearing a keffiyeh.

Mahdawi, who earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Columbia's School of General Studies, later joined a vigil outside Columbia’s gates, raising a photo of his classmate Mahmoud Khalil, who remains in federal custody.

"Nor the Trump administration, nor Columbia University, nor any power in this world will stop us from being and continuing to be humans,” he told the crowd.

His detention was part of a slew of executive actions by President Donald Trump to deport foreign nationals deemed to have "hostile attitudes" toward the US, including a crackdown on what he called antisemitism, which resulted in the deportation of foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

A letter calling for Mahdawi's deportation signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio accuses him of using threatening rhetoric toward pro-Israeli bystanders at protests. However, a November 2023 video obtained by CBS News shows Mahdawi, to the contrary, leading chants against a protester who made an antisemitic comment.

Mahdawi has not been convicted of any crimes.