Mohsen Mahdawi, a U.S. permanent resident, was detained last week at his citizenship interview near Burlington. HARTLAND, Vt. — The white steepled church in this tiny town was full, every seat taken and still more people standing at the back, all hoping to help the student they consider one of their own.

A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University and was arrested during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship has made an initial apperance in a Vermont courthouse.