"When Mohsen Mahdawi last walked on the Columbia University campus, for his graduation last May, he required special permission from a judge to be there. Though he was a lawful permanent resident, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained him at an immigration appointment on the orders of the Trump administration, which had urged the judge to block his attendance at the ceremony. But he made it, and many in the crowd gave him a standing ovation."
"As the new school year began again earlier this month, Mahdawi was back at Columbia as a graduate student pursuing a master's degree indiplomacy, security, and conflict resolution. When I first met him, it was the first day of classes. This time, he moved more carefully-baseball cap, sunglasses, "camouflage," he called it-to avoid constant interruptions from people who recognized him from the press coverage."
Mohsen Mahdawi required a judge's special permission to attend his Columbia graduation last May after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him at an immigration appointment on orders of the Trump administration. He received a standing ovation at the ceremony. He returned to Columbia this fall as a graduate student pursuing a master's in diplomacy, security, and conflict resolution and adopted a low profile—wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses—to avoid recognition. He regularly appears in immigration court virtually via Webex and must prepare for a late-September appeal that could result in re-detention. ICE detained him in April during a Vermont citizenship interview and held him for over two weeks before a judge blocked his transfer and ordered his temporary release.
Read at Slate Magazine
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