Trump Administration Fires Judge, Reverses Palestinian Student's Deportation Win

Mohsen Mahdawi’s legal victory lasted exactly three months. In February, immigration judge Nina Froes blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to deport the Palestinian student activist, ruling the government had failed to meet its burden of proof and dismissing their evidence as inadmissible. Mahdawi could breathe again.

Then everything changed.

Last month, the Trump administration fired Froes. This week, the Board of Immigration Appeals, operating under the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, overturned her decision entirely. Mahdawi’s deportation proceedings are back on.

The Columbia University student was arrested last year during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement interview. He spent two weeks in detention without ever being charged with a crime. His alleged offense: participating in pro-Palestinian protests at his university.

But here’s where it gets even more explosive. The government invoked an obscure legal provision that allows Secretary of State Marco Rubio to seek deportation of individuals deemed to pose “adverse foreign policy consequences” for the US. No criminal charges needed. No trial. Just a bureaucratic determination that your activism is bad for America’s image.

Mahdawi, a stateless Palestinian refugee from the occupied West Bank, didn’t stay silent. In a statement released through his legal team, he directly accused the Trump administration of weaponizing immigration law as a political weapon.

“The government is trying to punish and deport me because it opposes my peaceful advocacy for human dignity and equal rights for Palestinians,” he said. “But I remain unafraid and faithful that justice will prevail in America and in Palestine.”

This case is just one piece of Trump’s broader assault on pro-Palestinian speech in America. The administration has threatened to freeze federal funding for universities hosting protests, scrutinized immigrants’ online speech, and attempted mass deportations of foreign activists. In March alone, Trump filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing it of violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students.

Experts and civil liberties advocates are sounding the alarm. They argue the crackdown violates free speech protections and threatens academic freedom itself. But the judicial roadblocks that once slowed Trump’s agenda are disappearing fast, especially after judges who rule against him get fired.