Bait and Switch: Mohsen Mahdawi’s Citizenship Trap

In this week s episode of The Intercept Briefing we examine the scenario of Mohsen Mahdawi a Palestinian trainee whose decadelong journey toward American citizenship ended not with the oath of allegiance but in handcuffs On Monday the Columbia scholar arrived at his long-awaited citizenship interview in Vermont Instead immigration agents arrested him and he now faces deportation to the occupied West Bank Rep Becca Balint D-Vt who represents his district is outraged and stated The Intercept Briefing If you ll deny due process from somebody who was in this country with a green card for years who is somebody who talked about peace and connection between Palestinians and Israelis who was looking to build bridges if this man is somehow a threat to our society then we are down a sick path Related Palestinian Novice Leader Was Called In for Citizenship Interview Then Arrested by ICE Mahdawi spoke to The Intercept the night before his fateful appointment and noted he understood the hazard he might be facing He is now the ninth Columbia aspirant targeted for deportation The Trump administration has revoked or changed over a aspirant visas according to Inside Higher Ed Mahdawi s circumstance exemplifies how immigration enforcement is being weaponized says Balint If they re so proud of what they re doing then show your damn face then show your ID Then talk about what grounds you are holding this person But it s being done in secret and it is meant to shock and awe and to get the rest of us to remain silent They have no evidence they have no details which is what we re demanding of both Secretary Marco Rubio and Secretary Kristi Noem It s being done in secret and it is meant to shock and awe and to get the rest of us to remain silent The Trump administration is reportedly invoking a rarely used section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of to arrest Mahdawi a lawful permanent resident The act allows the secretary of state to revoke a person s residency if deemed a threat to U S foreign protocol If in fact you claim that he is a danger to our country s foreign interests then provide the certification to Congress That is what you have to do if you re using this INA provision and I never thought that I would see this kind of behavior from a democratically elected leadership stated Balint Immigration lawyer Matt Cameron spoke to The Intercept about the broader implications of the administration s agenda and mentioned that this is much bigger than just students and immigrants It s a message to apprentice protesters obviously to start with but it s a message to all of us that our free speech is a liability he warned Cameron pointed to the situation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia a Maryland resident who was illegally deported to El Salvador and is now imprisoned despite no criminal record The U S Supreme Court has ordered the administration to facilitate his return but so far the administration has resisted This is going to be one of the preponderance crucial cases of our lifetimes disclosed Cameron Even for people who don t think they re interested in following immigration issues This is for all of us And you know Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia will be all of us pretty soon here if we don t stay on our rights Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts Spotify or wherever you listen The post Bait and Switch Mohsen Mahdawi s Citizenship Trap appeared first on The Intercept