WASHINGTON

A group of Democratic lawmakers gathered outside the US State Department on Tuesday evening to call for the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian Columbia University student and legal permanent US resident who was detained earlier this month during a citizenship interview in Vermont.

Lawmakers warned that Mahdawi’s case is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration of targeting students, immigrants and activists without due process, including Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian Columbia graduate, and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, both of whom are detained in Louisiana.

Among those who spoke at the rally were Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Van Hollen, Representatives Becca Balint, Ayanna Pressley, Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Nydia Velazquez, Maxwell Frost, Maxine Dexter and Veronica Escobar. They were joined by dozens of demonstrators holding signs with slogans such as “Free Mohsen Mahdawi” and “The People Demand Due Process.”

“Not only was this action cruel and inhumane, most importantly, it was illegal. It was unconstitutional,” said Sanders, describing Mahdawi’s arrest as a violation of fundamental rights.

“Mr. Mahdawi has not even been accused, let alone convicted of a crime, and yet tonight he remains in a jail cell. If the Trump administration has any shred of justice in it, Mahdawi must be released immediately.”

"This is a moment in history where we have got to stand up against Trump's moving this country to authoritarianism,” he added.

Mahdawi, who led a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University last year and has lived in the US for over a decade, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on April 14 in Vermont during his citizenship interview. His next court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Senator Van Hollen called the detention of Mahdawi, Khalil, Ozturk and others “illegal abductions,” saying: “That should not happen in the United States of America.”

“I really hope the judges and courts in the United States see right through that sham that (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio has concocted,” he said, referring to the Rubio-led State Department’s justification for student visa revocations that some students’ actions pose a threat to US foreign policy interests.

Ozturk and Khalil were separately detained last month by federal agents as part of the Trump administration’s growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian students. Neither of them has been charged with a crime.

Tlaib characterized the detentions as part of a broader political crackdown.

“To me, they are political prisoners, and we are demanding that they be released today,” she said.

“You can keep trying to come for all of us and think that it's only those speaking about Palestinian rights,” she said. “But this is an American value.”

Pressley warned that the arrests are part of “a coordinated attack on our democracy” meant to “silence dissent, restrict due process, and sow fear in our communities.”

Balint described Mahdawi as a “cherished member” of the Vermont community.

“What’s happening right now in our name is terrifying and goes against everything we say we stand for as Americans,” she added.