Mohsen Mahdawi smiled and flashed a peace sign at dozens of friends and supporters who showed up Wednesday morning for his hearing in federal court in Burlington. He鈥檒l continue to be held at Northwest State Correctional Facility in Vermont and will have another hearing next week, where a judge could consider his potential release.
Mahdawi has lived in Vermont's Upper Valley for the past decade and is currently a student at Columbia University. He applied for U.S. citizenship last year and went to a naturalization interview at a Colchester office earlier this month. After attesting that he was willing to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States, Mahdawi was arrested by hooded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in unmarked vehicles.
The federal government immediately tried to move him to Louisiana, Mahdawi鈥檚 lawyers said in court documents, but a judge granted a temporary restraining order to keep him in Vermont.
Mahdawi, who grew up in a refugee camp in the West Bank, has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian people and attended protests opposing the Israeli military鈥檚 actions in Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has written that Mahdawi鈥檚 activities 鈥渉ave potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,鈥� and in court documents, federal attorneys argue Mahdawi鈥檚 detention is legal as removal proceedings play out in immigration court.
Government lawyers haven鈥檛 provided additional evidence to justify his arrest and detainment. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford gave them until Monday, April 28 at noon to do so.
Meanwhile, Mahdawi鈥檚 lawyers have called for his immediate release, arguing he鈥檚 been detained solely on the basis of lawful speech.
鈥淚t's very important to assert in this case that the government can't arrest and detain you if you've exercised your constitutional rights under the First Amendment,鈥� Cyrus Mehta, one of Mahdawi鈥檚 lawyers, told reporters after the hearing. 鈥淲e want to get him released to affirm this principle as soon as possible.鈥�
The court received over 70 letters in support of Mahdawi from friends, neighbors, Buddhist monks and professors.
"No one has ever provided anything like that before," Judge Crawford said. "These were quite striking in geographic and philosophical breadth, including many members of the Jewish community."
Hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse to protest Mahdawi鈥檚 detention 鈥� including several Vermont lawmakers, students from the University of Vermont, a Buddhist meditation group, Jewish protesters and members of the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation.
After the hearing, Mehta read a statement from Mahdawi, scrawled on a legal pad, encouraging people not to lose hope.
鈥淪tay positive and believe in the inevitability of justice,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 am in prison, but I am not imprisoned.鈥�
Another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30.
