Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi is free on bail after a judge ordered his release from federal immigration custody Wednesday, weeks after armed DHS agents detained him in Vermont during his naturalization interview.
Mahdawi, a 34-year-old U.S. permanent resident who was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, was detained April 14 and had been held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, the Northwest State Correctional Facility, in St. Albans, Vermont.
"I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you," Mahdawi said Wednesday outside the Vermont courthouse after his release.
"What we are witnessing now and what we’re understanding is exactly what Dr. Martin Luther King has said before: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," he added.
From the bench, U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered the release of Mahdawi from prison on bail, pending the resolution of his habeas petition.
The government requested that Crawford pause Mahdawi's release from prison for seven days by issuing a stay of the order, but the judge denied it.
Following Wednesday's hearing, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement stating that the judge would not prevent the Trump administration from "restoring the rule of law to our immigration system."
"It is a privilege to be granted a visa or green card to live and study in the United States of America," she said. "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."
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified Mahdawi’s detention, saying his "presence and activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest," according to the DHS notice for Mahdawi to appear.
Mahdawi, who has a green card, was a key organizer of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last year.
Before Wednesday morning’s hearing in Vermont, the government and Mahdawi's attorneys filed multiple court documents over his release, many of which were filed under seal but reviewed by NBC News.
In the government’s opposition to releasing Mahdawi, it said that law enforcement records indicated that Mahdawi has admitted "to being involved in and supporting antisemitic acts of violence" and "an interest in and facility with firearms for that purpose," according to court documents reviewed by NBC News.
The government included two exhibits with their filing, which have been filed under seal. One of the exhibits, which NBC News has reviewed, is a 2015 report from the Windsor Police Department in Vermont, where a gun shop owner told officers that Mahdawi "supposedly told" the owner that he used to build machine guns "to kill Jews while he was in Palestine."
In his declaration, Mahdawi said that he recalled visiting a gun shop in Windsor, Vermont, but that he is "absolutely certain that I never expressed the words the report falsely attributes to me, in that exchange or ever."
"I am a peaceful person, and would never express wanting to harm or kill anyone," he wrote. "I am heartbroken to have such appalling words, which stand in complete contrast to my philosophy on life and spiritual beliefs, misattributed to me.”
Addressing reporters outside the courthouse, Mahdawi's attorneys claimed victory against what they described as "the government's retaliation" against Mahdawi's right to free speech.
"Their claims and actions are baseless, without evidence, and are a disgrace to the U.S. Constitution," said Luna Droubi, a partner at Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP. "We will keep fighting until Mohsen is free for good."
