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When Mohsen Mahdawi last walked on the Columbia University campus, for his graduation last May, he required special permission from a judge to be there. Though he was a lawful permanent resident, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained him at an immigration appointment on the orders of the Trump administration, which had urged the judge to block his attendance at the ceremony. But he made it, and many in the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

As the new school year began again earlier this month, Mahdawi was back at Columbia as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in diplomacy, security, and conflict resolution. When I first met him, it was the

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