2nd Circuit Court Undermines Justice by Reversing Order to Release Columbia Activist Mahdawi
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A conservative-dominated panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s order to release Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi, sending his case back to the immigration courts and threatening the rights of those who speak out for Palestinian justice.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, stacked with appointees of former Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush, reversed a district court’s order requiring the release of Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention. This decision, emblematic of the rightward shift in the judiciary, insists that Mahdawi’s fate should be decided within the notoriously harsh immigration court system overseen by the Justice Department, rather than by an independent federal judge.
While the ruling does not demand Mahdawi’s immediate re-arrest, it strips away the previous order that protected his freedom. The American Civil Liberties Union, representing Mahdawi, has condemned the move, stating there is no legal justification for his deportation or re-detention as his appeals continue. Mahdawi, a lawful permanent resident born in the West Bank, now faces the uphill battle of seeking a rehearing by the full 2nd Circuit or appealing to the Supreme Court, both of which are increasingly hostile to immigrants and activists.
In 2025, a district judge had courageously ordered Mahdawi’s release, defending his free-speech rights and criticizing the administration’s heavy-handed tactics. However, the Board of Immigration Appeals, acting in lockstep with government priorities, reinstated deportation proceedings after overturning a prior decision that had blocked the government’s attempt to silence him.
"I still have faith that the full court will correct the legal error and restore the constitutional principles that protect all people equally," Mahdawi stated, demonstrating hope amid a system stacked against dissenters.
Mahdawi’s ordeal is part of a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism on U.S. campuses, where the government seeks to deport foreign students for exercising their rights. The administration claims the Secretary of State can deport non-citizens whose presence may have so-called adverse foreign-policy consequences—a rationale widely denounced by human-rights advocates as a thinly veiled attack on protected speech and basic freedoms.