US appeals court reverses decision to acquit Columbia activist Mahdawi | Censorship News

The ruling is the latest court victory in US President Donald Trump’s campaign against foreign students.

A US appeals court has overturned a lower court decision that ordered the release of Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention, marking the latest success of US President Donald Trump’s administration in trying to deport pro-Palestinian protesters.

On Tuesday, the court overturned the 2025 decision of US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who ordered Mahdawi’s release, saying he has the right to free speech as a US citizen and accused the Trump administration of causing “great harm” to an innocent man.

Mahdawi has not been jailed while fighting deportation.

In May, the Board of Immigration Appeals returned deportation cases after overturning a February ruling by immigration judge Nina Froes, which was prohibited Trump’s attempt to remove Mahdawi. Froes ruled that the government failed to meet its evidentiary burden and rejected the impeachment inquiry. He was later fired by the Trump administration.

Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who was born in the occupied West Bank, was to be arrested in April 2025 after attending what he believed to be an interview regarding his application for US citizenship. He was held in jail for two weeks and has been charged with no crime.

In a statement after an appeals court reinstated his deportation case in May, Mahdawi accused the Trump administration of using immigration tools to suppress his political views.

“The government is trying to punish and deport me, an unrestricted Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank, because it opposes my peaceful declaration of human dignity and equal rights for Palestinians,” he said. “But I will remain fearless and faithful that justice will prevail for America and Palestine.”

Mahdawi’s case has become one of the most difficult issues targeted by Trump’s crackdown on Palestinian activists, who have tried to expel foreign protesters, threaten to freeze funding to universities where protests have taken place and censor online speech.

The administration has said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority under federal immigration laws to seek the deportation of non-citizens whose presence would have “adverse foreign consequences” in the US.

Human rights lawyers say the government is taking back constitutionally protected speech.