On July 21, 2026, a higher court overturned a lower court's decision to release pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention The Guardian.

The appeals court said a Vermont federal judge went beyond his authority by stepping into Mahdawi's immigration case before the immigration court system had finished its process. The Vermont judge had compared the government's effort to deport Mahdawi and other activists to the anti-communist crackdowns of the 1950s known as McCarthyism. The appeals court did not address whether Mahdawi was unfairly targeted for criticizing Israel The Guardian.

The case, filed in Vermont district court, is called MAHDAWI v. TRUMP, et al., case number 2:25-cv-389. The appeals court held a hearing on September 30, 2025. Earlier proceedings included an April 23, 2025 status conference and an April 30, 2025 hearing on Mahdawi's request for release. Mahdawi had to appear in person at these Vermont hearings.

Mahdawi, 35, is a Columbia University student. He was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and became a legal permanent resident of the US in 2015, meaning he had the right to live and work in the country. In April 2025, immigration agents arrested Mahdawi during a citizenship interview — a step where a green card holder applies to become a US citizen. He was ordered to appear before an immigration judge at a Louisiana detention facility on May 1, 2025. He was released two weeks later.

Mahdawi is appealing a deportation order issued against him by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is an administrative body that reviews decisions made by immigration judges. The American Civil Liberties Union, a civil rights organization, represents him. ACLU attorneys said the government cannot detain or deport Mahdawi while the appeals process continues The Guardian.

This decision is similar to another appeals court ruling earlier in 2026 against Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia classmate of Mahdawi. The same appeals court is also expected to issue a ruling about Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University. At the September 2025 hearing, government lawyers argued against releasing both Mahdawi and Öztürk, who was detained by masked federal agents after co-signing a newspaper opinion piece critical of Israel The Guardian.

The appeals court's reasoning stands out for what it leaves out. By reversing the lower court only on the question of authority, the panel avoided looking at whether Mahdawi's constitutional rights were violated — specifically, whether the government went after him because of his political speech. The court essentially said the lower court jumped in too early, rather than weighing in on the deeper question of free speech and retaliation.

The broader context here is that this approach leaves the constitutional questions about political speech and deportation unresolved for Mahdawi, Khalil, and possibly Öztürk. It also suggests that higher courts may want the immigration system to handle these cases first before judges weigh in on civil liberties concerns. For activists who argue the government is punishing them for their views, that means the civil rights questions at the heart of their cases may wait a long time for an answer.