COLCHESTER, Vt. (Diya TV) — A Palestinian student activist from Columbia University was detained by U.S. immigration officials last week while attending what he believed would be a routine interview to complete his naturalization process, a move his lawyers say was abrupt, unlawful, and politically motivated.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a 28-year-old philosophy major and outspoken organizer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Columbia’s campus, was arrested on April 8 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Colchester, Vermont. Mahdawi, who has held a green card since 2015, expected the appointment to be his final step toward U.S. citizenship.

Instead, ICE took him into custody, sparking an urgent legal battle and national attention from civil rights advocates, lawmakers, and human rights groups. Within hours, Mahdawi’s family and legal team scrambled to locate him as ICE reportedly moved him between facilities, a tactic his attorney, Luna Droubi, described as “standard operating procedure” aimed at obstructing legal efforts.

“This is their M.O.,” Droubi told The Intercept, which first reported the arrest. “They hide the individual to the point where attorneys can’t even determine where to file. We’re operating blind while the government holds all the information.”

Droubi immediately filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent ICE from transferring Mahdawi out of Vermont, arguing that the arrest was “direct retaliation” for his activism, especially his criticism of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III granted the order, blocking Mahdawi’s removal from Vermont or the country until further notice.

Mahdawi, who moved to the U.S. from a refugee camp in the West Bank in 2014, co-founded Columbia’s Palestinian Student Society and became a visible advocate for Palestinian rights amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. In December, he appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes, where he accused Israel of committing genocide — a claim Israel denies.

His detention comes amid what critics call an aggressive immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump’s administration targeting foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of more than 300 student visas, claiming the effort was intended to combat antisemitism on U.S. campuses.

But civil rights groups argue the campaign is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress free speech and silence dissent against Israeli policies. “His detention is an attempt to silence those who speak out against the atrocities in Gaza. It is also unconstitutional,” Droubi told the BBC.

Mahdawi is one of several foreign students who have faced immigration enforcement actions after organizing campus protests. Other cases include Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student detained outside his New York dorm last month, and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was arrested by ICE in March.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., condemned Mahdawi’s detention, writing on X that the student “was illegally detained by ICE during what was supposed to be the final step in his citizenship process.” Sanders called for Mahdawi to be “afforded due process under the law and immediately released.”

At a separate hearing on Monday, Judge Sessions raised concerns about federal authorities transferring students to conservative-leaning jurisdictions such as Louisiana, which has seen other students moved into ICE detention centers. He questioned whether the administration risked sparking a “constitutional crisis” if it ignored a court order demanding the return of detainees like Ozturk to Vermont.

As of Monday afternoon, Mahdawi’s attorneys confirmed he remained in Vermont, though his exact location was unclear. His case continues to draw national scrutiny as debates over immigration, free speech and U.S. policy on the Israel-Gaza war intensify.