Vermont

‘A beautiful prison’: Mohsen Mahdawi seeks solace in rural Vermont as he fends off deportation – The Boston Globe

Published

10 months ago

May 9, 2025

‘A beautiful prison’: Mohsen Mahdawi seeks solace in rural Vermont as he fends off deportation – The Boston Globe

“It‘s amazing,” he said of the view, grinning.

A Columbia University student who grew up in the occupied West Bank, the 34-year-old Mahdawi was detained in April after being summoned to a federal immigration office in Vermont for what was supposed to be his final test to become a US citizen.

After 16 days in prison, Mahdawi was freed by a federal judge in Vermont who likened the Trump administration’s actions to McCarthyism. Mahdawi made a beeline for the Upper Valley, which he’s called home for more than a decade, most recently in nearby Hartford. He visited his cabin and said a prayer.

Mohsen Mahdawi speaks to his lawyer outside of his cabin in Fairlee, Vt.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

Mahdawi’s freedom may be fleeting. The Trump administration, which has called him a threat to national security, continues to seek his detention and, more than likely, deportation. The judge has limited his movements to Vermont and New York.

“What it reminds me of is Palestine, where I was supposed to be in one area and, if I crossed to the other, I don’t have rights,” he said. “But I am grateful that I have this nature. I mean, it‘s a larger prison, but it‘s a beautiful prison to be in.”

Mahdawi carries himself with confidence and engages others with an intense and absorbing gaze. His expression conveys high spirits, in spite of the turmoil he’s faced.

But when the prospect of deportation comes up, his ever-present smile fades away. “It would be similar to a death sentence,” he said.

Family members in the West Bank have been targeted by Israelis since Mahdawi became a leader of Columbia’s pro-Palestinian movement, he said. Were he to return, he believes, Israeli soldiers or settlers would seek revenge.

Mahdawi, though, says there’s something he fears even more than death: not being able to continue the peacemaking efforts he’s been building in the United States. He sees himself as “a baby diplomat” who is uniquely poised to bring together Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans to resolve the ancient conflict in the Middle East. He’s even written a 68-page peace plan.

“I am going to school in order to make peace — peace and justice,” said Mahdawi, who is slated to begin graduate studies at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in September. “And if they deport me, they are killing this possibility, this opportunity that I am seeing.”

Mahdawi bought the West Fairlee property for $51,000 off Facebook Marketplace in October 2020 as a pandemic project of sorts. Clearing trees, digging ponds, and building the cabin also served as a form of therapy, he said, to work through the trauma of a youth spent in violence and hardship within the Far’a refugee camp.

“I said in my head, ‘If I die tomorrow, what is the one thing I would want to have in my life?’ And it was something that none of my parents had … [for] three generations, which is a piece of land,” he said.

Mahdawi named his sanctuary Jannah Ndakinna. Jannah means “paradise” in his native Arabic, he said, and Ndakinna means “homeland” in the Indigenous Abenaki language. “So it‘s a paradise, in my eyes, but it‘s a homeland — the homeland for all the Abenaki people who used to be here before,” he said. “I am just a caretaker.”

After 16 days in prison, Mahdawi was freed by a federal judge in Vermont.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

The cabin is not fancy. It is just 8-by-16 feet, not much bigger than his recently vacated jail cell, he joked. It gives off the vibe of a tiny home crossed with a man-cave. But the view of the verdant countryside from its deck is majestic.

“Isn’t it magical?” he said. “The cabin has helped me, really, to realize that, in order to find joy, you don’t need much.”

That joy has been sharply tempered by President Trump‘s campaign to root out protesters of Israel’s deadly war in Gaza. Betar US, a radical Zionist group, began calling for Mahdawi’s deportation in late January. On March 8, Mahmoud Khalil, who had led pro-Palestinian protests with Mahdawi at Columbia, was seized by federal officials outside his New York City apartment.

Mahdawi laid low for 23 days, he said, with only three people knowing where he was. He paced constantly, and, as a practicing Buddhist, meditated. When immigration officials notified him his long-awaited citizenship interview would take place April 14 in Vermont, he suspected a trap.

After consulting with friends and attorneys and making a list of pros and cons, he decided to show up for the interview.

“I’d rather be detained in Vermont,” he reasoned. “That‘s the main pro. If I get detained in Vermont, I have a better chance.”

As soon as he completed the test, the person administering it opened a door, Mahdawi said, “and the officers stormed in — you know, masks covering their faces, hats. … They said, ‘You’re under arrest.’”

When the officers led him away in handcuffs, Mahdawi said, he carefully considered how the moment might be captured by friends who had prepared for this possibility. He raised his hands in two peace signs, a gesture that soon went viral.

Mahdawi had two goals, he said: to reassure worried loved ones he’d be OK and to avoid projecting fear.

“I wanted to tell people that if you are fighting for something that you believe in, you should not surrender to intimidation or fear: I am not afraid,” he said. “This is the message I wanted to send: no intimidation.”

The officers told Mahdawi they planned to ship him to Louisiana, where other deportation targets have faced a more conservative court system. But the entourage missed its flight by minutes, he said, giving his lawyers time to get a court order keeping him in Vermont.

“I looked at [the officers] and I said, ‘Congratulations! You’re gonna be enjoying the Burlington-Lake Champlain area now, instead of traveling on an airplane,’” he recalled.

Mahdawi, however, ended up in a state prison in rural Vermont, which he said was dehumanizing and humiliating all the same.

“You lose your basic rights,” he said.

A few days into his stay, he was joined by a group of migrant farmworkers who had been detained in a high-profile raid of a nearby dairy farm. One became his cellmate.

“He doesn’t speak English, but he says to me, ‘Good.’ And they call him ‘amigo,’” said Mahdawi, who doesn’t speak Spanish. “So, ‘amigo’ and ‘good.’ That‘s what we shared.”

As a key court hearing approached, Mahdawi tried to temper his eternal optimism — what he called his “strongest muscle.” But the night before he had a dream of his favorite Palestinian dish, mansaf, which he said was a signal he would soon be released. He packed his meager prison belongings and headed to court.

After the judge ordered his release, Mahdawi again sought to use his public platform to speak out against what he described as the administration’s campaign of intimidation. In impromptu remarks outside the Burlington courthouse, he declared, “I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you.”

His release, however brief it may prove, “is a major, major signal that the justice system is working,” Mahdawi said.

On Thursday, Mahdawi joined several prominent elected officials at Vermont‘s statehouse to announce the creation of a fund to aid in the legal defense of immigrants facing deportation.

Mohsen Mahdawi is silhouetted against a fading sky as he walks his land.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

After hiking down from the ridgeline, Mahdawi paused at two ponds he had excavated and named “Harmony” and “Melody.” Picking up several stones, he tried, with mixed success, to skip them across the water.

“America is the first place I learned how to do that. We didn’t have bodies of water,” he said of the refugee camp in which he was raised. “Most Palestinians won’t experience this, this or the sea.”

He tossed another rock across the pond.

“This is what we’re doing here: You throw a stone, it hits a spot, but the ripple gets through the whole water,” he said. “My release … it‘s a rippling going around. A lot of people are feeling more hope nowadays.”

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Vermont

19 Vermont school budgets fail as education leaders debate need for reform

Published

6 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

19 Vermont school budgets fail as education leaders debate need for reform

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Most Vermont school budgets passed Tuesday, but 19 districts and supervisory unions saw their spending plans rejected — an uptick from the nine that failed in 2025, though well below the 29 that failed in 2024.

Some education leaders say the results show communities are largely supportive of their schools.

“We’re starting to kind of equalize out again towards the normal trend of passage of school budgets each year,” said Chelsea Meyers of the Vermont Superintendents Association.

Sue Ceglowski of the Vermont School Boards Association said the results send a clear message. “Vermont taxpayers support Vermont’s public schools,” she said.

Meyers said the results also raise questions about the scope of education reform being considered in Montpelier. “If we are going to reform the system, it might not require sweeping broad changes as are being considered right now, but a more concise approach to consider that inequity,” she said.

But in districts where budgets failed, officials say structural changes are still needed. In Barre, where the budget failed, Barre Unified Union School District Board Chair Michael Boutin said the Legislature must, at a minimum, create a new funding formula. “We have to have that in order to avoid the huge increases and decreases — the huge increases that we’ve seen in the last couple years,” Boutin said.

He said the rise in school budgets is separate from why property owners are seeing sharp tax increases. The average state increase in school budgets is 4%, but the average property tax increase is 10%, driven by cost factors including health care. “There’s a complete disconnect, and that’s a product of the terrible system that we have in Vermont with our funding formula,” Boutin said.

Ceglowski says the state should address health care costs before moving forward with rapid education policy changes. “Addressing the rapid rise in the cost of school employees’ health benefits by ensuring a fair and balanced statewide bargaining process for those benefits,” she said.

The 19 districts that did not pass their budgets will need to draft new spending plans to present to voters, which often requires cuts. Twelve school districts are scheduled to vote at a later date.

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Vermont

6 of the Quirkiest Towns in Vermont

Published

18 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Vermont is, for many visitors, the postcard-perfect New England state. A part of the United States since 1791, the first to join the Union after the Thirteen Original Colonies, Vermont has many unique, and sometimes quirky, features. The place has attracted artists and other creative geniuses, some of them decidedly eccentric, from its earliest days. The natural parts of Vermont, like the famous Lake Champlain, offer unusual points of interest for visitors and locals alike. With a state as rich in traveling attractions, it should be little wonder that some of them come with a quirk or two.

Montpelier

Summer Farmers Market in Montpelier, Vermont. Editorial credit: Phill Truckle / Shutterstock.com

Montpelier, while being Vermont’s charming capital, is the tiniest among all US state capitals with just around 8,000 residents. For comparison, the second-smallest, Pierre in South Dakota, has a population of about 14,000. Established in 1787, this historic town warmly welcomes visitors with a variety of landmarks, including the Vermont History Museum and the sprawling 200-acre Hubbard Park. The State House is also open to the public for tours. Just a short drive west, less than an hour away, lies Lake Champlain, one of the Northeast’s most beloved watersides.

The town’s name pays homage to Montpellier, a beautiful city in southern France. This naming reflected the high regard for France at the time, especially for their support during the US War of Independence. Interestingly, Montpelier has experienced its share of flooding, with significant damage occurring in the years 1927, 1992, and most recently in 2023.

Elmore

Elmore, a charming small town in Lamoille County with fewer than 900 residents, is a favorite spot for autumn leaf-peepers. Located north of Montpelier, this peaceful town has its own unique charm, including several local landmarks sharing the name ‘Elmore,’ which adds to its character. It’s important to note that Elmore town is separate from East Elmore. To the west, Elmore Mountain overlooks the area, while Elmore State Park lies just north of the town itself. Enjoying waterside beauty, Elmore Lake is often listed among Vermont’s most picturesque lakes, with its waters flowing into the Lamoille River through Elmore Pond Brook. Like Montpelier, Elmore is situated east of Lake Champlain. For those seeking a more bustling scene or a change of pace, the vibrant city of Burlington, just an hour’s drive west, makes for a perfect day trip or weekend getaway.

Stowe

Stowe, with a lively population of 5,300, is Vermont’s top spot for adrenaline seekers and the eccentrics among us, earning its reputation as the state’s premier ski and snowboard destination. The Stowe Mountain Resort proudly calls itself the “ski capital of the east”—that’s the eastern United States. Nestled near the breathtaking Mount Mansfield, Stowe offers more than just winter fun; warmer months bring plenty of activities like hiking and mountain biking in the beautiful Cady Hill Forest.

The town also has a rich history, being the home of Jake Burton Carpenter (1954-2019), the visionary behind Burton Snowboards and a trailblazer in making snowboarding an international sport. While some might have called him eccentric when he launched his company in 1977, today he’s celebrated as a true pioneer whose legacy keeps inspiring young snow sports enthusiasts, like those at Mount Mansfield Winter Academy, a special school dedicated to nurturing the next generation of champions.

Manchester

Manchester, a town with 4,500 residents located in southwest Vermont, is popular among art and architecture enthusiasts. It features Hildene, the estate of Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert, which boasts an impressive Georgian Revival house and grounds. The town’s American Museum of Fly Fishing showcases numerous rods, flies, and related gear, attracting many superstitious anglers. Manchester is also home to Orvis, a renowned fishing and clothing company. The Southern Vermont Arts Center hosts exhibitions, and includes a sculpture garden and performance space. Nature lovers should visit Mount Equinox, west of town, or explore the Green Mountain National Forest to the south.

Eccentric fact: Jonathan Goldsmith, known for portraying “The World’s Most Interesting Man” in Dos Equis commercials, resides in Manchester. Stay quirky, my friends.

Brattleboro

Brattleboro, with a population of 12,100, sits along the Connecticut River and features a variety of attractions and oddities. Located just west of New Hampshire—in which the Connecticut River forms the border—and just north of Massachusetts, the town is an ideal midpoint for exploring the wider New England region. Outdoor enthusiasts will appreciate Fort Dummer State Park, welcoming hikers, bikers, and campers alike. Among the more renowned eccentric figures in history, British writer Rudyard Kipling moved to Brattleboro after marrying a Vermont woman in 1892. Their home, Naulakha, references his birth and childhood in India. Kipling believed that Brattleboro’s conservative small-town culture created an

Woodstock

Woodstock, a town with 3,000 residents located in upstate New York, is separate from the famous 1969 cultural event. This southeastern town attracts architecture enthusiasts, particularly for the First Congregational Church, built in 1807 and featuring a bell cast by American revolutionary Paul Revere, and the Norman Williams Public Library, completed in 1884. For outdoor activities, visitors can walk in Woodstock Town Forest, located south of the town, or enjoy panoramic views from the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park, the only part of the US National Park system in Vermont besides the Appalachian Trail. Recently, Woodstock has modernized its infrastructure with digital technology, launching the “Wireless Woodstock” initiative in 2011, which provides free Wi-Fi across the entire town. It’s not quirky; it’s just cool.

Vermont’s Quirky Small Towns May Also Be Its Best

These small Vermont towns show the state’s sometimes quirky, but never boring character. Architecture fans will find unusual, beautiful examples state-wide. Montpelier is an oddly pint-sized capital with heavyweight history. Brattleboro has long attracted strange, sometimes brilliant types, whether foreign or domestic. Manchester is interesting enough for the World’s Most Interesting Man. And with abundant natural parks, the Green Mountains, and the majesty of Lake Elmore and Lake Champlain, the quirks of Vermont’s best features should attract even the most straight-laced visitors.

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Vermont

Vermont postal worker allegedly threw away mail she was supposed to deliver for months

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Vermont postal worker allegedly threw away mail she was supposed to deliver for months

Crime

During a search of a dumpster where the worker allegedly discarded the mail, police found several packages and holiday cards.

A Vermont postal worker was cited and suspended for allegedly throwing away mail that was supposed to be delivered to other people, according to police.

Natasha Morisseau, 34, of North Troy, was cited on nine counts of petty larceny and five counts of unlawful mischief, Vermont State Police said in a statement. She works as a mail carrier for the town’s United States Postal Service (USPS) office.

Officers were first alerted to the discarded mail on the afternoon of Jan. 23, according to police. Upon finding the mail in a dumpster on Elm Street in North Troy, they determined that none of it was for that address.

Police identified Morisseau as a person of interest and learned that she was a postal employee. They confirmed that she had regularly been throwing away a small amount of mail under her care since at least October 2025, according to the statement.

After searching the dumpster and Morisseau’s mail vehicle, officers found opened and unopened packages, along with several holiday cards, one of which contained money. Morisseau was later cited Feb. 14 and is due to appear March 17 in Vermont Superior Court, police said.

Since Jan. 23, Morisseau has been suspended by USPS, and all recovered mail has been given back to them for delivery, according to the statement. The case has been forwarded to the USPS’ Inspector General for further review.