Judge blocks deportation of Palestinian activist who led protests at Columbia

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Judge blocks deportation of Palestinian activist who led protests at Columbia

2026-02-18 10:12 Last Updated At：10:20

NEW YORK (AP) — An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian graduate student who led protests at Columbia University against Israel and the war in Gaza.

In a ruling made public Tuesday, the judge, Nina Froes, said she had terminated the case because of a procedural misstep by government attorneys, who failed to properly certify an official document they intended to use as evidence.

The Trump administration may appeal the decision. But the ruling marked the latest setback for the federal government’s sweeping effort to expel pro-Palestinian campus activists and others who expressed criticism of Israel.

Last month, a separate immigration judge blocked the government’s attempt to deport a Tufts University graduate student, Rümeysa Öztürk, over an op-ed criticizing the school’s response to the war in Gaza.

Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident of the U.S. for the last decade, was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He was arrested by immigration agents during a citizenship interview last April, but he was released two weeks later by a federal judge.

In the months since, the government has continued its effort to deport him, citing a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio arguing noncitizens can be expelled from the country if their presence may undermine U.S. foreign policy interests.

Government attorneys submitted a photocopy of the document to the immigration judge, but they failed to certify it as required under federal law, the judge wrote.

“I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government’s attempts to trample on due process,” Mahdawi said in a statement released by his attorneys. “This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice."

Mahdawi has also mounted a separate case in federal district court arguing that he was unlawfully detained. That case remains ongoing, his lawyers said.

In an emailed statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, cast Mahdawi as a leader of “pro-terrorist riots" whose visa should be revoked.

“No activist judge, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that,” she added.

Rescuers race to save 6 skiers found alive after avalanche, 10 still missing in Northern California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rescue crews on skis and snowcats battled blizzard conditions in an effort to reach six backcountry skiers trapped after an avalanche high in the rugged Northern California mountains that left 10 other skiers missing as the danger of more slides remained high.

The search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after someone called 911 at about 11:30 a.m. to report an avalanche with people buried as a powerful winter storm moved through the state.

Hours later, Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, said six skiers had been located and were asked to shelter in place “as best they can” until they can be reached.

The group was on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trip, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center. Reynaud said his group has had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the skiers had spent two nights at huts on a trip that required navigating “rugged mountainous terrain” on backcountry skis for up to four miles (6.4 kilometers) and bringing along all food and supplies.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company that took the group to Castle Peak and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying.

Greene told KCRA-TV that the skiers are in communication with officials through their emergency beacons, which can send texts.

“They are doing the best they can. They have taken refuge in an area, they have made up a makeshift shelter with a tarp and are doing everything they can to survive and wait for rescue,” Greene told the television station.

He said rescue teams are making their way to the group cautiously because the danger of triggering more avalanches remains high.

“We have brought in snowcats, we have snowmobiles on standby. We have individuals on skis. We have several different ways that people are attempting to get there,” he said. “It’s just going to be a slow, tedious process."

California is being walloped this week by a powerful winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

“It’s particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we’re at the height of the storm,” said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center based in Truckee.

The center issued an avalanche warning for the area in the Central Sierra Nevada, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday with large slides expected into Wednesday.

The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snowfall piling on fragile snowpack layers coupled with gale-force winds.

Several ski resorts around Lake Tahoe were fully or partially closed due to the extreme weather. The resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry where travel in, near, or below the avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.

Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) peak in the Donner Summit area of the Sierra Nevada, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. Donner Summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

Training in avalanche assessment and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, that draws people wanting to glide deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort's boundaries. Backcountry skis are wider, heavier and have other features to handle going up and down ungroomed terrain, unlike cross-country skis that are narrower and designed for flat, more groomed trails.

In the nearby town of Soda Springs, at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow had fallen in the last 24 hours, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.

Forecasters said the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in northern Shasta County — including portions of Interstate 5 — and parts of the state’s Pacific Coast Range could see up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow before the storm moves through late Wednesday.

The storm wreaked havoc on roadways spanning from Sonoma County to the Sierra Nevada. Traffic was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 near the Nevada state line due to spinouts and crashes, the California Department of Transportation reported.

In January, an avalanche in the region buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.

Watson reported from San Diego.