WASHINGTON: A US immigration judge has blocked the deportation of a Palestinian graduate student who helped organize protests at Columbia University against Israel&#39;s war in Gaza, according to US media reports. Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by immigration agents last year as he was attending an interview to become a US citizen. Mahdawi had been involved in a wave of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-police-to-get-new-powers-after-latest-propalestinian-protest" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">demonstrations</a>&nbsp;that gripped several major US university campuses since Israel launched a massive military siege of the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian born in the occupied-West Bank, Mahdawi has been a legal US permanent resident since 2015 and graduated from the prestigious New York university in May. He has been free from federal custody since April. In an order made public on Tuesday, Judge Nina Froes said that President Donald Trump&#39;s administration did not provide sufficient evidence that Mahdawi could be legally removed from the United States, multiple media outlets reported. Froes reportedly questioned the authenticity of a copy of a document purportedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that said Mahdawi&#39;s activism &quot;could undermine the Middle East peace process by reinforcing antisemitic sentiment,&quot; according to the New York Times. Rubio has argued that federal law grants him the authority to summarily revoke visas and deport migrants who pose threats to US foreign policy. The Trump administration can still appeal the decision, which marked a setback in the Republican president&#39;s efforts to crack down on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/greta-thunberg-arrested-at-propalestinian-protest-in-london" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">pro-Palestinian</a>&nbsp;campus activists. The administration has also attempted to deport Mahmoud Khalil, another student activist who co-founded a Palestinian student group at Columbia, alongside Mahdawi. &quot;I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government&#39;s attempts to trample on due process,&quot; Mahdawi said in a statement released by his attorneys and published Tuesday by several media outlets. &quot;This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice.&quot;

Columbia University campus (Columbia University) 

Americas

Mahdawi had been involved in a wave of demonstrations that gripped several major US university campuses since Israel launched a massive military siege of the Gaza Strip.

US judge blocks deportation of Columbia University Palestinian activist

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations condemned Israel&rsquo;s plans involving the deportation of Palestinians, recalling that Israel had previously used the name Somaliland as a destination for deportations, particularly from the Gaza Strip.&nbsp;In a post on X on Saturday, the Mission stated that the State of Palestine &ldquo;affirms its total rejection of Israeli plans for the forced deportation of our people, or under any other pretexts, and considers it a red line, while warning against anyone&#39;s alignment with these rejected propositions.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 1044px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2004710774569082898&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=5157be1bb5ef009d41645d0ce50a08cf30f5b118&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Earlier, posts on X from the official handle of the Prime Minister of Israel on Friday announced the &ldquo;official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state.&rdquo;&nbsp; The post said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa&rsquo;ar, and the President of Somaliland signed a &ldquo;joint and mutual declaration.&rdquo; The Israeli posts added that the declaration was &ldquo;in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of President Trump,&rdquo; and noted that Prime Minister Netanyahu &ldquo;congratulated the President of Somaliland, Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdallah, and praised his leadership and commitment to promoting stability and peace.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 672px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2004550707530076582&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=5157be1bb5ef009d41645d0ce50a08cf30f5b118&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px"></iframe></div></div>

Middle East

The Palestinian UN Mission condemns Israel’s previous and planned deportations of Palestinians to Somaliland, calling them a red line; Israel has officially recognized Somaliland as an independent state, citing the Abraham Accords and praising its leadership.

Articles tagged with "Deportation of Palestinians"

US judge blocks deportation of Columbia University Palestinian activist

Palestine condemns Israel’s deportation plans, rejects Somaliland recognition