Mohsen Mahdawi, a permanent U.S. resident living in White River Junction, was arrested Monday when he arrived for a citizenship interview at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Colchester, according to court filings.
State Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor, who calls herself a friend of Mahdawi and represents the district in which he lives, said Mahdawi reached out to her a few weeks ago to ask for her support in his interview for citizenship.
She worried it was a trap, but said Mahdawi was 鈥渃lear-eyed.鈥�
鈥淪o we went into it with fear and concern, but also lots of optimism,鈥� White said.
Mahdawi is from the West Bank and is set to graduate this May from Columbia University, He is supposed to begin a master鈥檚 of international affairs there this fall, according to a petition filed by his lawyers in U.S. District Court on Monday.
, Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia in the fall of 2023 with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian lawful resident who was detained by immigration officials earlier this year.
White 鈥� the Windsor senator 鈥� said she was with Mahdawi on Monday morning. She said friends quizzed him on the Constitution over coffee before he went into the 11 a.m. appointment with his lawyer and a friend. Around noon, White got a text from someone who was inside with Mahdawi that said Mahdawi was put in handcuffs. White said during the interview, Mahdawi鈥檚 lawyer learned his green card had been revoked.
A video taken outside the USCIS office shows two people escorting Mahdawi into a black car outside the building. No identifying markers are visible on the car in the video, though one officer wears a sweater that says 鈥淧olice HSI,鈥� the acronym for Homeland Security Investigations. The car pulls away and a few others follow.
White said she doesn鈥檛 know where Mahdawi was taken.
On Monday, in response to an emergency filing by Mahdawi鈥檚 lawyers, Judge William K. Sessions III ruled that Mahdawi cannot be removed from Vermont or the U.S., pending further order of the court.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to questions about the case Monday afternoon, and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Vermont said they had no comment.
Mahdawi grew up in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to a 2020 profile in the Valley News. He moved to the Upper Valley about 10 years ago.
White said Mahdawi loves being outdoors and led services through the pandemic as a layperson at the Unitarian Universalist church she attends in Hartland.
鈥淗e was always keeping us up to date and letting us know about what was affecting the Palestinian community, too,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o he was really that bridge to someone with lived experience, who was also a member of our community.鈥�
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Becca Balint released a joint statement on Monday condemning Mahdawi鈥檚 detention, and pointing out that he was arrested by 鈥減lain-clothed鈥� officers 鈥渨ith their faces covered.鈥�
鈥淭hese individuals refused to provide any information as to where he was being taken or what would happen to him,鈥� the Vermont delegation wrote. 鈥淭his is immoral, inhumane, and illegal. Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention.鈥�
White said she鈥檚 shaken by what happened.
鈥淚 had thought Vermont was a safe place. And what I learned today is Vermont is not safe,鈥� White said. 鈥淭hat there is no place that is safe. Because they came in unmarked vehicles and abducted my friend.鈥�
Separately on Monday, Judge Sessions heard regarding the detention of Tufts University doctoral student R眉meysa 脰zt眉rk, who had co-authored an opinion piece in the Tufts student newspaper that criticized the university鈥檚 response to student efforts demanding the school disclose and sever its relationships with companies that held ties to Israel. 脰zt眉rk was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents near her home in Massachusetts and is now being held at a Louisiana detention center.
