Judges reject Trump admin's deportation cases against 2 pro-Palestinian college students
Source: ABC News
February 18, 2026, 12:29 AM
For the second time in a little more than a week, attorneys have announced that an immigration court has terminated deportation proceedings against a pro-Palestinian student after Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed they posed a threat to foreign policy.
According to a letter filed in court, attorneys for Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student who was detained at his naturalization interview in April, a judge has found that the Department of Homeland Security "did not meet its burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence" that he is removable.
It comes after an immigration court terminated removal proceedings against Tufts University Ph.D. student Rümeysa Öztürk. Her attorneys announced the order in a letter to the federal judge overseeing the case challenging her detention on Feb. 9.
For Mahdawi's case, immigration judge Nina Froes appears to have based her decision on the finding that DHS failed to authenticate a memo allegedly signed by Rubio claiming Mahdawi was a threat to U.S. foreign policy. Mahdawi's attorneys have argued that, like other pro-Palestinian demonstrators, organizers and students, he was being targeted for his constitutionally protected speech. Öztürk, like Mahdawi, was also labeled a foreign policy risk by Rubio in a memo.
Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/judges-reject-trump-admins-deportation-cases-2-pro/story?id=130249451
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