Trump admin fires judges who blocked deportations of pro-Palestinian activists
JTA — The Trump administration on Friday fired two judges who blocked the deportations of international students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.
One of the judges, Roopal Patel, a Boston immigration court judge, oversaw the Trump administration’s immigration case against Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey who was detained by ICE agents on the street in Somerville last March.
In February, Patel found there were no grounds to deport her, following a months-long legal battle with the Trump administration and opposition to her arrest from Jewish students and groups.
The other judge fired on Friday, Nina Froes of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, blocked the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, a pro-Palestinian student activist at Columbia University and green card holder from the West Bank, in February.
Froes told the New York Times that she had “fully expected” her firing and said she was unsure if ruling against Mahdawi could have changed the outcome.
“I don’t know what’s in the minds of other people,” Froes said.........
