Palestinian student leader's detention 'illegal,' says US senator

US Sen. Peter Welch demanded the release of a Palestinian student from Columbia University who was arrested Monday during a citizenship interview.

"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," Welch said on X.

His remarks came after Mohsen K. Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident and former leader of the campus protest movement, was taken into custody at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in the state of Vermont.

Welch said Mahdawi was arrested and removed in handcuffs by plainclothes, 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," he said.

Mahdawi is the ninth student from the school who is facing deportation as part of a campaign to remove international students involved in Palestinian solidarity movements.

It is part of a slew of executive actions by President Donald Trump to deport foreign nationals deemed to have "hostile attitudes" toward the US, including a crackdown on what he called antisemitism, which resulted in the deportation of foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests.