Updated April 30, 2025 at 12:38 PM MDT
Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student arrested and detained by masked immigration agents after his naturalization interview in Vermont, has been released from detention while his case proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford said Wednesday that Mahdawi's detention for two weeks, "so far demonstrates great harm to a person who has been charged with no crime."
Some of Mahdawi's supporters quietly cried and held hands in the courtroom as Crawford read his decision, according to a reporter with Vermont Public Radio who was in the courtroom.
Talking to supporters outside the Vermont federal courthouse, Mahdawi said his release sends a message that, "we, the people, will hold the Constitution accountable for the principles and values that we believe in."
Mahdawi's release comes with some conditions: He must stay in his home state of Vermont, though he is allowed to travel to New York City for his schooling and to meetings with his attorneys.
In a statement to NPR, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, "The Trump Administration is committed to restoring the rule of law to our immigration system. No judge, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that."
She said it's a privilege to be granted a green card.
Mahdawi is a green-card holder and lawful permanent U.S. resident who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
On Wednesday, MacLaughlin repeated the same statement it issued on Tuesday afternoon following Morning Edition's interview with Mahdawi in detention.
"When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans, and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country," McLaughlin said.
The Trump administration has asserted that Mahdawi's presence undermines its effort to combat antisemitism.
His attorneys have said he was detained in retaliation for exercising his free speech rights in advocating for Palestinian human rights during campus protests last year against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
They acknowledged there's a long road ahead on the case but celebrated the judge's decision.
Mahdawi remained defiant on Wednesday.
"And I am saying it, clear and loud," he said. "To President Trump and his cabinet, I'm not afraid of you."
Copyright 2025 NPR
