GEOFF BENNETT: Laura, I know you spoke with another student who was recently released from detention, Mohsen Mahdawi.

What did he have to say?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That's right.

Last week, Mahdawi was released from prison in Vermont after a federal judge ruled that the government continuing to hold him presented a great harm to his person who has not been charged with a crime.

So, like Ozturk, he was not charged.

Now, Mahdawi is a green card holder and he was arrested by agents at his naturalization interview in April.

Now, the Trump administration maintains that he -- his role in leading protests on Columbia University against the war in Gaza posed, again, a foreign policy threat to the United States.

Now, Mahdawi is still facing the threat of deportation.

He is allowed to travel to Columbia for his graduation later this month, and he's also allowed to travel for meetings with his attorneys.

But I spoke to Mahdawi.

I spoke to Mohsen Mahdawi last night about his experience.

Mohsen, you were detained for more than two weeks.

Can you tell me about your experience in detention in a place where you lived for years?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI, Formerly Detained Columbia Student: My experience actually has conflicting feelings about it, the first one is being grateful for being in Vermont among my community and the close legal support and going through the due process here and through the justice system.

And the other one is feeling the soreness of this injustice to be basically punished for practicing free speech.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: You said that you thought that your citizenship interview last month was a -- quote - - "trap."

Why did you still go?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: I was torn apart between feeling excited for this interview that I waited for, for more than a year and being very cautious about the possibility that this interview might lead to my detention.

Part of me felt that there might be people in this system of immigration who see my activism for what it is, that it is an activism against war and for peace.

On the other hand, I also wanted to take the shot, because I knew that being detained in Vermont, if I lined up everything perfectly with my legal team, I could go through the process and fight for my rights and fight for my rights on fair grounds.

I would say that I have done everything correctly.

I have lived in this country, paid taxes, never committed a crime.

I have studied in this country, built the bridges, connected with many communities.

And I really wanted to give it a fair shot and see if I will be - - if I can become a citizen.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Mohsen, the administration has said that your presence in the U.S. would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.

And in a memo obtained by The New York Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio went further, saying that your activities could -- quote -- "potentially undermine the Middle East peace process."

What's your reaction to their argument?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: I think it is actually a joke and laughable that they are accusing me of those false accusations.

If there is a peace process that they have in mind, let's bring it to the public, share what is your peace process, and come and look at my peace plan that I have developed with partners, Israelis, Palestinians, and Jews and with professors on campus.

My vision for peace is through international law and restorative justice.

Their vision is through war.

How could you have peace with war?

If that is their goal, that means they are -- actually, they are not thinking of a peace process.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The administration has also said that it's part of your protest, you promoted antisemitism and have accused you of threatening Jewish people.

What's your response to that?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: I believe that they are gaslighting Americans and Jewish Americans as well.

I am one of the people who stood up against antisemitism in public.

And I have basically denounced an act of antisemitism that is recorded on video.

I am a person who has deep connection and deep empathy for the suffering that the Jews have gone through over the past decade.

I see all human life as equal and deserve equal rights.

And this administration obviously does not see it the same way.

They are looking at the issue from a supremacist perspective, which is actually a danger to our humanity.

That is the threat, not my protest and my free speech.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Even this week, we have seen more protests at Columbia, your university.

Given your experience, your detainment, and your potential deportation, would you encourage those students to continue protesting?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: I encourage students to continue protesting peacefully, to abide by the principle of nonviolence, because our words and our voice and bringing the issue to light has way more power than any other elements of it.

I would also have to share that I am deeply disappointed of Columbia University administration.

It's undermining democracy.

It's our undermining peaceful protests.

And it is punishing its students, which is actually technically capitulating to the Trump administration and degrading the system of the liberal university we have and which we love Columbia University.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Some of your peers like Mahmoud Khalil are still being detained under similar legal grounds as you were.

Do you have a message for them?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: My message is, don't give up.

Stay hopeful.

The justice system is working.

This is a light of hope.

My release communicates to the whole country here that democracy is still functioning, that the system of checks and balances is still functioning.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Mohsen, you have been a green card holder for 10 years.

And when you were detained, it was during your citizenship interview, as we noted.

Do you still want to become an American citizen?

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: The question of becoming an American citizen is related to my deep belief in democracy, in the principles and values that it holds.

And the answer that I am waiting for is not necessarily from government officials that are trying to destroy every element of democracy that this country has.

The answer that I am waiting for, I have received from my people in Vermont, from Vermonters, who marched, who chanted, who sang, who protested, and who welcomed me when I came out of prison.

This is a clear message for me that my quest for the citizenship has been answered of the people who I love the most in this country, my Vermonter people.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Mohsen Mahdawi, thank you for your time.

MOHSEN MAHDAWI: A great pleasure.

Thank you.