Judge dismisses deportation case against Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi

Kevin R. Johnson

18 Feb 2026

The Columbia graduate student was detained last year during his U.S. citizenship test in Vermont. New Hampshire Public Radio reports. A federal immigration judge has terminated deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Vermont resident and pro-Palestinian activist who was detained in prison for two weeks last year.

The immigration judge ruled week that the U.S. government failed to authenticate a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that was the basis for initiating the removal case. "Rubio’s memo said that Mahdawi’s pro-Palestinian activism threatened U.S. foreign policy goals — an allegation Mahdawi and his lawyers have refuted."

Human Rights Watch – US: Victims of Nicaraguan Government Risk Deportation

Human Rights Watch reports that U.S. immigration authorities have detained at least eight Nicaraguan exiles whom the Nicaraguan government stripped of their nationality, including some with pending asylum claims. Seven of the people detained were among 222 political prisoners whom the Nicaraguan government expelled to the United States, declared

The Conversation: US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation

Karen Masterson in The Conversation (US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation) offers interesting historical background to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to temporarily allow the United States to resume deporting migrants to third-country destinations: "[T]he

Immigration Article of the Day: The Derivative Dilemma: The Gendered Role of Dependency in Immigration Law by Veronica Thronson

The Derivative Dilemma: The Gendered Role of Dependency in Immigration Law by Veronica Thronson, 28 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 147 (2025) Abstract In analyzing the derivative status and its implications for women, in Part I, I look at the role of family in the immigrant

Department of Justice Files Complaint Against the University of Delaware Challenging In-State Tuition for Undocumented Residents

Press release on October 1, 2026 "Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the University of Delaware for violating federal law by prioritizing the needs of illegal aliens over U.S. citizens in defiance of Congress’s commands. The Department is challenging the University of Delaware’s

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Human Rights Watch – US: Victims of Nicaraguan Government Risk Deportation

The Conversation: US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation

Immigration Article of the Day: The Derivative Dilemma: The Gendered Role of Dependency in Immigration Law by Veronica Thronson

Department of Justice Files Complaint Against the University of Delaware Challenging In-State Tuition for Undocumented Residents