Mohsen Mahawi v. Donald J. Trump, et al.

Concord, Vermont civil rights lawyers representing Plaintiff challenging arrest and detention.



Mohsen Mahdawi is an undergraduate student at Columbia University. He is also a Lawful Permanent Resident who has lived in the United States for over a decade and is in the process of applying to become a U.S. citizen. When Mahdawi appeared for his naturalization interview in Vermont on April 14, 2025, he answered the government's questions and passed his itizenship test. But, he alleges, at the interview's conclusion, a team of armed law enforcement officers entered the room and placed him under arrest. He was brought to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office and was served with a Notice to Appear, which informed him that the U.S. Secretary of State had determined that he was removable from the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Officers then brought him to the airport in Burlington, Vermont, with the intent to transport him to Louisiana, but after they missed the flight to Louisiana,

officers brought him to a detention center in Vermont.



Through counsel, Mahdawi filed a habeas petition, challenging his arrest and detention and seeking his release. He maintains that, in violation of his First and Fifth Amendment rights, he was arrested and detained in retaliation for his

peaceful advocacy on the politically contentious topic of the war in Gaza. On Mahdawi's emergency motion, the district court issued, and later extended, a temporary restraining order prohibiting the government from removing Mahdawi

from the District of Vermont. Following a bail hearing, the court also granted Mahdawi's motion to be released during the pendency of his habeas proceeding, finding that he was neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community—findings

that the government does not contest.

The government’s motion for a stay of the district court’s release order and extended TRO is DENIED. The government’s request for a writ of mandamus is also DENIED.