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A federal appeals panel has tossed out a lower court ruling that freed Columbia University graduate student Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration custody, ruling that federal judges lack the jurisdiction to hear his habeas corpus petition while removal proceedings are active.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision on July 21, 2026, ordering the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont to dismiss Mahdawi’s case.
The three-judge panel determined that under Section 242(b)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, legal challenges related to deportation must first work their way through the administrative immigration system before reaching a federal circuit court.
Mahdawi, 35, is a lawful permanent resident and a West Bank native who has lived in the United States since 2014. Federal agents arrested him on April 14, 2025, following a naturalization interview in Colchester, Vermont.
Immigration officials moved to remove Mahdawi under a finding by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who determined that Mahdawi’s presence and activities presented “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” The government cited allegations that Mahdawi engaged in threatening rhetoric and targeted pro-Israeli bystanders during campus protests over the war in Gaza.
Mahdawi filed a habeas petition the same day he was taken into custody, alleging federal officials targeted him in retaliation for his constitutionally protected speech advocating for Palestinian rights. U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered Mahdawi’s release on April 30, 2025, finding he had shown a likelihood of success on his First Amendment claims.
In the appellate ruling written by Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston, the panel found the district court erred by intervening in the ongoing removal process. The court concluded that Mahdawi’s First Amendment and due process claims directly challenge the government’s underlying grounds for removing him, making them subject to statutory limits on federal court jurisdiction.
“Congress specifically prohibited the use of habeas corpus petitions to review any questions of law or fact, including interpretation and application of constitutional and statutory provisions, arising from actions taken to remove an alien from the United States,” Livingston wrote, noting that such claims must be channeled into a single petition for review following a final administrative removal order.
The court rejected Mahdawi’s argument that delaying judicial review until the end of the administrative process would leave him without a meaningful remedy for unlawful detention. The panel noted that detainees can pursue administrative bail hearings or raise constitutional arguments within the immigration court framework, with eventual review in the federal court of appeals once administrative remedies are exhausted.
Circuit Judges William J. Nardini and Steven J. Menashi joined in the decision, with Menashi filing a separate concurring opinion.
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