Appeals Court Overturns Release of Pro-Palestinian Activist, Paving Way for Re-arrest

A federal appeals panel has overturned a lower court's decision, paving the way for the potential re-arrest of pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, whom the Trump administration has sought to deport for over a year.

Tuesday's ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed a Vermont federal judge's order for Mahdawi's release.

That earlier decision had drawn parallels between the government's efforts to expel Mahdawi and other activists to McCarthyist repression.

However, the appeals panel unanimously found that the judge had exceeded his authority by intervening in Mahdawi's case before it had fully navigated the immigration court system.

The ruling echoes a similar decision earlier this year against Mahmoud Khalil, a former classmate of Mahdawi’s at Columbia University.

As with Khalil's case, the appeals court did not address the merits of Mahdawi's claim that he was unconstitutionally targeted for criticizing Israel.

The panel noted that Mahdawi could seek federal court review of these claims once he has exhausted his options within the immigration courts.

Mahdawi, 35, is currently appealing an order of removal issued against him.

An emailed inquiry to his attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union was not immediately returned.

Born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Mahdawi became a legal permanent resident of the U.S. in 2015.

He was arrested by immigration agents during a citizenship interview in April 2025, as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to expel noncitizens critical of Israel and protesting the war in Gaza. He was released two weeks later and soon after graduated from Columbia.

During a 2nd Circuit hearing last September, government attorneys argued against the release of both Mahdawi and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University who was detained after co-signing an op-ed critical of Israel.

The government contended that both students had improperly benefited from habeas corpus relief, which they argued should be unavailable to individuals whose cases are still progressing through immigration courts.

Attorneys for the students countered that seeking relief from an immigration court system overseen by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice offered little hope.

The 2nd Circuit court is expected to issue a separate ruling concerning Ozturk’s case.