US appeals court overturns ruling that freed Columbia activist Mahdawi

The decision is the latest court victory for US President Donald Trump’s campaign targeting foreign student protesters.

A United States appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that ordered the release of Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention, in a decision that could allow the Trump administration of President Donald Trump to detain him again as it continues its campaign against pro-Palestinian student protesters.

In a decision on Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals — made up of two Trump appointees and one judge appointed by former President George W Bush — ruled the lower court shouldn’t have ordered Mahdawi’s release because the case should have been resolved in the immigration court system, which is overseen by the US Department of Justice.

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While the ruling doesn’t order Mahdawi’s immediate re-arrest, it removes the order allowing him to be released. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents him, however, said there was no legal basis to deport or re-detain him while the appeals process continues.

Mahdawi can now have his case reheard by a full panel of all the 2nd Circuit’s active judges or appeal to the US Supreme Court.

In 2025, US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford had ordered Mahdawi’s release, ruling that he enjoyed the same free speech rights as US citizens and accusing the Trump administration of causing “great harm” to someone who had committed no crime.

Mahdawi, 35, has remained out of custody while fighting deportation.

In May, the Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated deportation proceedings after overturning a February decision by an immigration judge, Nina Froes, that had blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Mahdawi. Froes, who had ruled that the government failed to meet its burden of proof and dismissed key evidence as inadmissible, was fired by the Trump administration in April.

Mahdawi, a lawful permanent resident who was born in the occupied West Bank, was arrested in April 2025 after attending what he believed was an interview related to his US citizenship application. He was detained for two weeks and charged with no crime.

In a statement after the appeals board reinstated the deportation case in May, Mahdawi accused the Trump administration of weaponising the immigration system to silence his political views.

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

Responding to Tuesday’s ruling in a statement, Mahdawi said, “I still have faith that the full court will correct the legal error and restore the constitutional principles that protect all people equally.”

Mahdawi’s case has become one of the most closely watched challenges to Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism, which has involved attempting to deport foreign protesters, threatening to freeze funds for universities where protests have taken place and scrutinising online speech.

The administration has argued that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority under federal immigration law to seek the deportation of non-citizens whose presence could have “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the US.

Human rights lawyers argue that the government is retaliating against constitutionally protected speech.