Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi accused the government of weaponizing the immigration system to silence advocates for Palestinian rights.
Published May 7, 2026
The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals has reopened deportation proceedings against Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi, according to a court filing from his attorney.
In February, Immigration Judge Nina Froese blocked the Trump administration’s effort to deport a Columbia University student. The student was arrested last year after participating in a pro-Palestinian protest.
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Froese ruled that the Trump administration had not met its burden of proof and dismissed the evidence as inadmissible. Floss was fired by the Trump administration last month.
The Board of Immigration Appeals, part of the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Review, reversed Froese’s decision.
In a statement cited by Reuters on Wednesday, Mahdawi accused the Trump administration of weaponizing the immigration system to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights.
“The government seeks to punish and deport me, a stateless Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank, because it opposes my work in peacefully advocating for the human dignity and equal rights of Palestinians. But I remain unafraid and loyal to the United States and Palestine to ensure that justice prevails,” he said in a statement shared by his lawyers.
Mahdawi was arrested last year during an interview with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was detained for two weeks but was not charged with a crime. His lawyers said he was arrested under an opaque legal provision that allows Secretary of State Marco Rubio to seek the deportation of individuals deemed to pose an “adverse foreign policy impact” to the United States.
President Trump has cracked down on pro-Palestinian movements, including trying to deport foreign protesters, threatening to freeze funding to universities where protests have taken place and scrutinizing immigrants’ online speeches.
Experts and activists have accused the government of suppressing free speech and academic freedom. The repression also faced legal and judicial obstacles.
In March, the Trump administration filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing it of violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students in the aftermath of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
