In a sign that the Trump regime plans to continue its fascist repression of student protestors legally in the US and dissent in general, even as its authority to do so is being challenged in court, ICE has kidnapped another Columbia University anti-genocide protest leader. Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian who has legally been studying in the United States for the past 10 years, was arrested by ICE as he arrived for a citizenship test; now the regime seems intent on deporting him under the familiar Calvinball argument that Marco Rubio can deport anyone he deems "detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests" on a whim; a tactic the administration has used to justify prior attempts to deport political prisoners Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, among others:

https://theintercept.com/2025/04/14/ice-columbia-student-mohsen-mahdawi-citizenship-interview/

Palestinian Student Leader Was Called In for Citizenship Interview — Then Arrested by ICE

"Even before his friend and fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities, Mahdawi asked university administrators to help him find a safe place to live so he would not be taken by ICE agents, according to emails reviewed by The Intercept. The school did nothing in response, Mahdawi said.

After ICE abducted Khalil last month, Mahdawi sheltered in place for more than three weeks for fear of being picked up himself.

Instead of taking him off the street, however, immigration authorities scheduled the citizenship test at the Colchester USCIS office and took Mahdawi into custody when he arrived.

Now, Mahdawi is facing an order to deport him to the occupied West Bank, where escalating attacks from both the Israeli military and Jewish settlers have led to increased casualties among Palestinians.

“It’s kind of a death sentence,” Mahdawi said. “Because my people are being killed unjustly in an indiscriminate way.”

Please also note that a number of other kidnapping targets taken by ICE, Mahdawi was previously marked out for reprisal by pro-Zionist smear group Canary Mission, and Betar, a far right hate group that's widely considered a fascist organization even in Israel; because apparently US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now taking foreign policy and national security advice from ultra-Zionist extremist hate groups that openly advocate for violence against Palestinians and protestors. Like all of the other anti-genocide protestors the regime has kidnapped, there is no evidence that Mahdawi is a "terrorist" or committed any serious crimes, except of course the Trump administration's argument that protesting a genocide is in and of itself, domestic terrorism.

#Trump #Fascism #Columbia #ICE #MohsenMahdawi #MarcoRubio #Betar #CanaryMission #Kidnapping #PoliceState #StudentProtests #Gaza #Genocide #Israel