Ice arrests Palestinian green card holder and student protest leader from Columbia University
Another leader of Columbia University’s campus protest movement against Israel’s war in Gaza has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), The Intercept reports.
Palestinian student and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi has been in the US for the last ten years and was one of the leaders of the pro-Palestine student protest movement until spring 2024.
In a statement to The Intercept, Mahdawi’s attorney Luna Droubi said:
Mohsen Mahdawi was unlawfully detained today for no reason other than his Palestinian identity. He came to this country hoping to be free to speak out about the atrocities he has witnessed, only to be punished for such speech.”
Mahdawi’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition on Monday morning challenging the legality of his detention, alleging the government was violating his statutory and due process rights by punishing him for speech related to Palestine and Israel.
The filing said it appears that Mahdawi was facing deportation under the obscure provision used in other recent cases that gives secretary of state Marco Rubio the right to unilaterally declare immigrants as threats to US foreign policy.
The Intercept reports that Mahdawi sheltered in place for three weeks for fear of being arrested by Ice agents, as his friend and fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil has been.
When he attended an appointment for his US citizenship interview at the Colchester USCIS office, authorities took him into custody. He now faces an order to deport him to the occupied West Bank.
“It’s kind of a death sentence,” Mahdawi said in reference to escalating attacks by the Israeli military and settlers on Palestinians living there. “Because my people are being killed unjustly in an indiscriminate way.”
Mahdawi’s case is the latest in a string of Ice arrests instigated by the Trump administration targeting pro-Palestinian students and scholars present in the US on visas or green cards.
“This is the outcome,” Mahdawi told The Intercept. “I will be either living or imprisoned or killed by the apartheid system.”
Key events
Anna Betts
The attorney of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green card holder and student at Columbia University was apprehended by US immigration authorities in Vermont on Monday, said Mahdawi’s whereabouts are unknown.
Mahdawi, who was a leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last spring, was arrested by Ice on Monday morning in Colchester, Vermont, while he was attending a naturalization interview, his lawyer said in a statement to the Guardian.
“We have not received confirmation as to his whereabouts despite numerous attempts to locate him,” his attorney, Luna Droubi, said.
“We have filed a habeas petition in the District of Vermont and have sought a temporary restraining order restraining the government from removing him from the jurisdiction or from the country.”
After Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced he would travel to El Salvador to try to visit his constituent Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the White House responded by falsely equating Garcia to an “illegal immigrant gang member”.
In a post on X, the administration wrote to Van Hollen: “Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother, was actually your constituent and she was murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member. Now, you’re now fighting to return one to the United States.”
Morin was raped, beaten and strangled to death in August 2023, and Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a Salvadorian native who illegally entered the United States in 2023 was charged with her death. He has not yet been convicted – a verdict in the case is expected this week.
Abrego Garcia, meanwhile, was not convicted of any crimes and there is no evidence he was a member of a gang. He had, in fact, fled gang violence in his home country when he came to the US in 2011. A judge had granted him a “withholding of removal”, allowing him to stay in the US legally. The administration admitted in court filings that Abrego Garcia had been sent to El Salvador due to an administrative error.
Still, the administration has continued in its rhetoric to cast Abrego Garcia as a criminal.
On Fox News, Trump adviser Stephen Miller contradicted the justice department’s court filing conceding that Abrego Garcia was removed in error, and went as far as to claim: “He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador. This was the right person sent to the right place.”
The day so far
At a meeting in the Oval Office today, Donald Trump and El Salvador president Nayib Bukele both claimed they didn’t have the power to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the US, despite the Trump administration conceding in court documents that he was deported by mistake and in the face of the supreme court upholding an order to facilitate his return. US attorney general Pam Bondi said the decision was El Salvador’s to make, adding: “If they want to, we would provide a plane.” Baselessly labeling Abrego Garcia a “terrorist”, Bukele refused to order his return, calling the idea “preposterous”, and also ruled out releasing him within El Salvador. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller went further, saying that even if El Salvador did send Abrego Garcia back to the US, the administration would deport him again. “No version of this legally ends with him ever living here,” he said. They all repeatedly referred to Abrego Garcia as an “illegal alien”, which he was not, and Miller insisted that the illegal deportation was not a mistake. Meanwhile, Trump reaffirmed that he is “all for” deporting naturalized American citizens to El Salvador, and urged Bukele to build more Cecot-style prisons so the US could deport “as many as possible”.
It comes as another leader of Columbia University’s campus protest movement against Israel’s war in Gaza was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Palestinian student and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi, who has been in the US for the last ten years, was detained when he went to attend his citizenship interview. He now faces an order to deport him to the occupied West Bank. Vermont lawmakers Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and Becca Balint have issued a statement calling for his immediate release: “This 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.” Meanwhile, more than 370 alumni of Georgetown University joined 65 current students there in signing on to a letter opposing immigration authorities’ detention of Dr Badar Khan Suri, a senior postdoctoral fellow. Immigration officials revoked his J-1 student visa, alleging his father-in-law was an adviser to Hamas officials more than a decade ago – and claiming he was “deportable” because of his posts on social media in support of Palestine. The cases are the latest in a string of Ice arrests instigated by the Trump administration targeting pro-Palestinian students and scholars present in the US on visas or green cards.
Also today:
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Trump assigned culpability to Vladimir Putin for starting the war in Ukraine. It was buried among his usual claims that Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had somehow “let it happen”, but it was there. He told reporters: “That’s a war that should’ve never been allowed to start. Biden couldn’t stopped it and Zelenskyy could’ve stopped it, and Putin should’ve never started it. Everybody’s to blame.” It comes after Zelenskyy invited Trump to visit Ukraine to see the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion, following comments from the US president that appeared to play down Moscow’s latest deadly attack, the worst on civilians this year, calling it “a mistake” on Sunday.
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The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, warned that the chances of a US recession have “increased” in the wake of Trump’s tariffs and that an escalating trade war poses “material risks” for US and global growth. The Wall Street boss said the growing uncertainty over the fallout of US tariffs could spell trouble for companies and consumers and wreak havoc on the economy.
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Rome will host a second round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran following the “positive” and “constructive” talks held on Saturday in Oman. Steve Witkoff and lead Iranian negotiator Abbas Araghchi talked for roughly 45 minutes this weekend – a win for the Trump administration, which had wanted direct rather than indirect negotiations. It comes as Trump reiterated his threat of a potential military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if it does not abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon.
Vermont lawmakers have responded to the Trump administration’s detention of Mohsen Mahdawi. Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and Becca Balint said in a statement:
Earlier today, Mohsen Mahdawi of White River Junction, Vermont, walked into an immigration office for what was supposed to be the final step in his citizenship process. Instead, he was arrested and removed in handcuffs by plain-clothed, armed, individuals with their faces covered. These individuals refused to provide any information as to where he was being taken or what would happen to him. This 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.
Goldman Sachs boss says chances of US recession have increased after Trump tariffs
Kalyeena Makortoff
The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, has warned that the chances of a US recession have “increased” in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs and that an escalating trade war poses “material risks” for US and global growth.
The Wall Street boss said the growing uncertainty over the fallout of US tariffs could spell trouble for companies and consumers and wreak havoc on the economy.
“We are entering the second quarter with a markedly different operating environment than earlier this year,” he told analysts during an earnings call.
The prospect of a recession has increased, with growing indications that economic activity is slowing down around the world.
The growing uncertainty had made it hard for Goldman clients to make important business decisions, he added.
This uncertainty around the path forward, and fears over the potentially escalating effects of a trade war, have created material risks to the US and global economy.
Solomon’s warning came despite a temporary roll-back by Trump, who declared a 90-day pause on higher-band tariffs for countries outside China last week. The US president also announced plans to exclude some electronic products from steep reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods.
Solomon said he was “encouraged by the US administration’s recent actions to pursue a more gradual policy process that allows for considered negotiations with many countries” but warned markets would continue to be volatile given that “how policy will evolve is still unknown”.
Ice arrests Palestinian green card holder and student protest leader from Columbia University
Another leader of Columbia University’s campus protest movement against Israel’s war in Gaza has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), The Intercept reports.
Palestinian student and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi has been in the US for the last ten years and was one of the leaders of the pro-Palestine student protest movement until spring 2024.
In a statement to The Intercept, Mahdawi’s attorney Luna Droubi said:
Mohsen Mahdawi was unlawfully detained today for no reason other than his Palestinian identity. He came to this country hoping to be free to speak out about the atrocities he has witnessed, only to be punished for such speech.”
Mahdawi’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition on Monday morning challenging the legality of his detention, alleging the government was violating his statutory and due process rights by punishing him for speech related to Palestine and Israel.
The filing said it appears that Mahdawi was facing deportation under the obscure provision used in other recent cases that gives secretary of state Marco Rubio the right to unilaterally declare immigrants as threats to US foreign policy.
The Intercept reports that Mahdawi sheltered in place for three weeks for fear of being arrested by Ice agents, as his friend and fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil has been.
When he attended an appointment for his US citizenship interview at the Colchester USCIS office, authorities took him into custody. He now faces an order to deport him to the occupied West Bank.
“It’s kind of a death sentence,” Mahdawi said in reference to escalating attacks by the Israeli military and settlers on Palestinians living there. “Because my people are being killed unjustly in an indiscriminate way.”
Mahdawi’s case is the latest in a string of Ice arrests instigated by the Trump administration targeting pro-Palestinian students and scholars present in the US on visas or green cards.
“This is the outcome,” Mahdawi told The Intercept. “I will be either living or imprisoned or killed by the apartheid system.”
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem has said she expects more people will be sent to El Salvador.
Noem, speaking to Fox News on Monday ahead of Donald Trump’s meeting with the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, said:
When I was in El Salvador visiting with President Bukele, we talked about the fact that he would accept more flights, would accept more individuals into Cecot. So I’m looking forward to that partnership continuing.
Chris Stein
Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland will travel to El Salvador this week to visit his constituent Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia if he is not released from detention and returned to the United States.
Van Hollen also requested that El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, meet with him during his visit to Washington DC to discuss Abrego Garcia’s return.
“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia never should have been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the administration must bring him home, now. However, since the Trump Administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
That’s why I’ve requested to meet with President Bukele during his trip to the United States, and – if Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release.
When he met Donald Trump in the Oval Office earlier today, Bukele said he would not return Abrego Garcia to the United States or release him from prison in El Salvador.
Andrew Roth
Republican supporters of Ukraine are using the Kremlin’s deadly missile strikes as their latest evidence to convince Donald Trump that he must increase pressure on Vladimir Putin if he wants to reach a ceasefire deal.
Pro-Ukraine lawmakers and aides in the Republican party have carefully navigated Trump’s apparent affinity for Putin and avoided direct intervention in their efforts to shift his support toward Kyiv. But following the Russian strikes during Palm Sunday celebrations in the city of Sumy, advisers and allies have been highly vocal in condemning the attack using language meant to resonate with the US president’s conservative, religious base.
“Putin and peace apparently do not fit in the same sentence,” wrote Lindsey Graham, the Trump-allied senator who has sought to balance his support for Ukraine with his desire to remain on Trump’s good side.
Russia’s barbaric Palm Sunday attack on Christian worshippers in Ukraine seems to be Putin’s answer to efforts to achieve a ceasefire and peace.
The strike came less than 48 hours after Steve Witkoff, the Trump envoy, met with Putin in St Petersburg. The Kremlin called the meeting “extremely useful and very effective”, although there was no indication that the two men achieved concrete results. Witkoff’s gesture of holding has hand over his heart when he saw Putin has been criticised in Washington as excessively fawning and naive.
Joe Biden has condemned the arson attack on Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s home on Sunday, saying he was “disgusted” by the fire that left significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests to evacuate the building during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
“We are relieved that they are safe and grateful to the first responders,” the former president posted to X on Monday.
There is no place for this type of evil in America, and as I told the Governor yesterday, we must stand united against hatred and violence.
Donald Trump, speaking to reporters from the Oval Office just earlier, also condemned the attack.
Asked about the suspect, Cody Balmer, Trump said he was “probably a wack job” and “not a fan” of his. “A thing like that cannot be allowed to happen,” he added.
That’s it, the press briefing is over.
Trump reaffirms that he’s ‘all for’ deporting naturalized US citizens who commit violent crimes to El Salvador
Asked if he’s open to deporting naturalized US citizens to El Salvador, Trump says yes, “if they’re criminals”.
That includes them, they’re as bad as anybody. I’m all for it.
He adds the US can do it via El Salvador “for less money and have great security”.
There are “others” the administration is negotiating with too, Trump adds.
Trump repeats threat to strike Iran militarily if it doesn’t give up nuclear programme
Trump says Iran must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face harsh consequences that could include a military strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“Of course it does,” Trump said when asked if a potential response could include strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump says he expects to impose tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals “in the not-too-distant future”.
Trump says he plans to deport ‘as many people as possible’ who are in the US ‘illegally’
Asked how many “illegal criminals” he will export from the US, Trump says he will deport “as many as possible”.
Referring to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison, where the deported people have been sent, Trump says he asked Bukele if he could build more of them. He suggests he would be open to helping El Salvador financially to do so.
“The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court. And no court in the United States has a right to conduct the foreign policy of the United States,” Marco Rubio adds.