The Daily Fuckup

An immigration judge terminated Mohsen Mahdawi’s removal proceedings after finding the government did not properly authenticate the evidence it relied on to pursue deportation. The filing at issue was a memorandum said to be from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the judge’s ruling turned on the government’s failure to meet basic evidentiary requirements in the case. ([aclu.org](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/mohsen-mahdawis-removal-proceedings-terminated-by-immigration-judge))

The procedural result matters because it stopped the deportation case itself, at least for now. According to the ACLU, which announced the ruling in a Feb. 17 press release, the immigration judge dismissed the proceedings without prejudice after concluding the government had not authenticated the memo and had left out referenced attachments. The group said the government can appeal or try again with a new filing. ([aclu.org](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/mohsen-mahdawis-removal-proceedings-terminated-by-immigration-judge))

AP reported the case on Feb. 17, 2026, but the ruling itself was issued on Feb. 13, 2026. That timing is important: the legal setback was not a fresh same-day blow to a broader immigration campaign, but a specific order in a long-running case involving a Columbia University graduate student detained last year over his speech in support of Palestinian rights. ([aclu.org](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/mohsen-mahdawis-removal-proceedings-terminated-by-immigration-judge))

Mahdawi’s lawyers told the Second Circuit that the judge’s decision rested on the government’s failure to authenticate the memorandum. The ruling shows that even in high-profile immigration cases, the government still has to prove its claims with properly supported evidence. In this case, it did not. ([aclu.org](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/mohsen-mahdawis-removal-proceedings-terminated-by-immigration-judge))