A Palestinian activist accused of making antisemitic statements and leading anti-Israel protests at Columbia University will not be deported from the United States after an immigration judge ruled that the federal government failed to meet its burden of proof.
Immigration Judge Nina Froes determined that the Department of Homeland Security did not provide sufficient admissible evidence to establish that Mohsen Mahdawi was removable, according to court filings. The ruling represents a significant setback for federal authorities who had sought to expel the 34-year-old activist.
Froes concluded that DHS relied in part on a memorandum purportedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio but failed to properly authenticate the document. As a result, the government was unable to “meet its burden of proving removability,” according to Reuters.
Mahdawi’s attorneys disclosed the decision Tuesday in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, which has been reviewing an earlier ruling that led to his release from immigration custody in April 2025.
Mahdawi had been detained during a citizenship appointment in Vermont and spent more than two weeks in custody before filing a habeas petition. He was later released on bail. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered that Mahdawi not be deported or removed from the state pending further proceedings.
The deportation case stemmed in part from Mahdawi’s activism at Columbia University, where he co-founded the Palestinian Student Union following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack. He established the group alongside Mahmoud Khalil, who has also drawn scrutiny for his role in campus protests.
Federal authorities also cited allegations dating back to 2015, when Mahdawi was interviewed by the FBI after reportedly making antisemitic remarks at a Vermont gun store and a firearms museum. According to court documents previously cited in media reports, a store owner claimed Mahdawi expressed interest in purchasing firearms, including a sniper rifle and an automatic weapon, and allegedly said he had experience building modified 9mm submachine guns “to kill Jews while he was in Palestine.”
The store owner further alleged that Mahdawi said at a museum in Windsor, “I like to kill Jews.” Mahdawi has denied making antisemitic comments or expressing violent intent.
At the time, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement that “court documents show Mahdawi allegedly told a gun shop owner that he had considerable firearms experience and he ‘used to kill Jews.’” His legal team has countered that federal agents conducted a thorough investigation and found “no evidence” supporting the allegations.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
8 Responses
Nothing appears to be broken. There doesn’t seem to be any allegation that this person has broken any laws. And it’s unconstitutional to deport him just for the content of his speech.
Rubio seems to be under the impression that if a visa can be denied for the content of someone’s speech that takes place outside the USA then it can be revoked for that speech as well, but that is not true. While a foreigner is not in the USA the constitution doesn’t protect his rights; therefore the USA does not have to allow him entry, for any reason it chooses, including his speech. But once he is here the constitution does protect his rights, including his freedom of speech, so his visa can’t be canceled for it.
about the women of the wall. i would like to tell them: how happy I’m to be a women that i don’t have to daven with a minyan i can daven(or not) whenever I want. because we women, are in a bigger “madrague” then men. it’s always going to be a mans world. but that does not mean we are second citizens. the truth is; we can not do what man can and man can not do what women do. that’s the way Hashem created the humans race.
only by the “Muslims Arabs” that the women are not counted for anything except for raping them. and it’s always the “women’s fault” so women, be happy you don’t have to do what the man are doing. We women can daven to Hashem without a thalis or tefillin, and minyan. thank you hashem!!!!!!!
The law is interpreted and applied according to the beholder.If this antisemite would have used the same language and had made the same actions to acquire weapons on Blacks,Latinos,the LGBTQ community or Muslims I believe the results would have been different.
i just don’t get it. how can a court do that? when someone says openly that he is buying a gun to kill Jews?? they are going to deport him after he is killing?? he is waiting to be legal in USA then he is going to kill as many Jews as he can, and then what??? he is not just talking, he means what he says and he will do it. and the judge will say. I AM SO SORRY!!!!!!!!! shame on the judge and whoever agrees with that decision.
@milgrouse: saying it doesn’t make it so. the us constitution DOESN’T protect the rights of non-americans, inside or outside the united snakes. if the proper papers had been filed, he would be gone by now. but thank you for having an opinion…
Mil house, what you said is not true. The State Dept has broad authority to remove non citizens. Period.
mgc, where did you get the utterly bizarre idea that he said he is buying a gun to kill Jews? He did not say that. You made it up.
Shloime, don’t talk about a subject you know nothing about. The US constitution protects the rights of ALL PERSONS within its jurisdiction, regardless of whether they’re citizens or aliens, and regardless of whether they’re here legally or illegally. This is beyond all possible dispute. “Nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Shrags, another ignoramus. Neither the state department nor any department has the authority to take any action whatsoever against any person for exercising his constitutional rights. That includes deportation. The moment an action is motivated by a person having exercised his constitutional rights, that action becomes unconstitutional, and no law can authorize it.
BZG, you are wrong. The result would be exactly the same no matter who he was talking about. The constitution protects his right to talk like this, whether about Jews, blacks, Moslems, or anyone else.