US appeals court overturns ruling that freed Columbia activist Mahdawi

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that a United States appeals court has set aside a lower-court order that led to the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University activist and lawful permanent resident who is fighting deportation. The ruling, issued Tuesday by a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, does not require his immediate re-arrest, but it removes the prior order that had allowed him out of immigration detention.

According to the report, the panel said the lower court should not have ordered Mahdawi’s release because his case belonged in the immigration court system, which is overseen by the Department of Justice. Mahdawi, 35, was born in the occupied West Bank and was arrested in April 2025 after going to what he believed was an interview tied to his US citizenship application. He was held for two weeks and has not been charged with a crime.

US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered Mahdawi released in 2025, finding that he had free speech protections and criticizing the administration’s actions. In May, the Board of Immigration Appeals revived deportation proceedings after reversing an immigration judge’s earlier decision blocking the government’s effort to deport him. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Mahdawi, said there is no legal basis to deport or detain him again while appeals continue.

The case is part of the Trump administration’s broader push against foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian campus activism. Al Jazeera notes that officials argue federal law allows deportation when a non-citizen’s presence could harm US foreign policy, while rights lawyers say the government is targeting protected political speech.