A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Columbia University's Palestinian green card holder and student Mohsen Mahdawi, who was detained by the Trump administration on April 14.

Mahdawi walked out of immigration detention Wednesday afternoon to greet supporters and thank them for their support.

Mahdawi was arrested by ICE in Colchester, Vermont during a naturalization interview. He is one of many international students detained for representing Palestinians in recent months.

Lawyer for the legal U.S. resident Mahdawi argued that he was illegally detained in “a speech advocating Palestinian human rights in his revenge” and said it was “part of a policy designed to keep people with Palestinian human rights silent and calm.”

The Trump administration is seeking to deport Mahdawi, 34, and claims his presence and activities in the United States "will have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and harm the interests of forced U.S. foreign policy."

In a new court filing filed on Monday, the Justice Department includes a two-page letter from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying that Mahdawi's activities and presence in the United States "undermined the U.S. policy toward anti-Semitism" and that his activities could "possibly undermine the peace process in the central Middle East," according to NPR.

This week, the Vermont Senate voted to denounce Mahdawi's "way and situation" of arrest and called for the immediate release of his case as his case took place in federal court. The Senate also stressed that, according to VTDIGGER, Mahdawi should "get due process."

The last vote originally scheduled for Wednesday's resolution is expected to be passed.

Congress was joined by Senator Bernie Sanders this week, rallying outside the State Department this week to demand the release of Mahdawi.

“He used his voice to advocate for peace, justice and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis,” Sanders said. “This action is not only cruel and inhumane, but most importantly, it is illegal and unconstitutional.”

Mahdawi immigrated to the United States ten years ago and began attending Columbia University in 2021. According to his attorney, he was a student in Colombia last year, "he was a "outsighted critic, who was outspoken about Gaza's military movement and in his performances in March 2024 on the Colombian campus, he has been performing in the 2024 Colombian protests and has been involved in one step after that, and has been involved in one step.

Born and raised in a refugee camp on the West Bank, Mahdawi spoke to NPR this week from the Northwest State Correctional Institution in St. Albans, Vermont, and he is still in custody.

“I’m internally centered, I’m in peace,” Mahdawi told NPR. "While I still know deeply that this is the level of injustice I face, I have confidence. I believe justice will prevail."