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Senator reports constituent detained after citizenship interview in Colchester; urges supporters to attend interviews
Summary
A senator told the Senate floor that a constituent, identified as Mohsen of White River Junction, was handcuffed and taken during a citizenship interview in Colchester, Vermont, and said family and counsel were not informed where he was taken.
On April 15, a senator used floor announcements to report that a constituent named Mohsen, an Upper Valley resident from White River Junction, Vermont, was taken into custody during a citizenship interview in Colchester.
The senator described arriving with Mohsen, his lawyer and supporters at about 10 a.m. and said Mohsen’s interview began at 11 a.m. The senator said that within 20 minutes of the interview’s start, Mohsen “was handcuffed by 3 men who were wearing face coverings, hoodies who were unmarked,” and that those taking him did not tell his lawyer, his friend Dave, or the gathered supporters where they were taking him or why. The senator said vehicles arrived, men in sunglasses and hats who would not identify themselves, and that Mohsen was taken “physically in handcuffs from Colchester, Vermont to we didn't know where.”
The senator said Mohsen is a university student, described him as “peaceful” and nonviolent, and said he leads lay-led services at a Unitarian Universalist congregation. The senator said Mohsen was not given due process in that family and counsel were not told where he had been taken and that, as of the announcement, they did not have information about his location or the reason for his detention.
The senator told colleagues this event happened the day before the announcement and urged other members to accompany constituents to citizenship interviews. "If you are invited to go to a citizenship interview with a constituent, you better go to that interview because they are taking people," the senator said. The senator stressed the personal and constitutional urgency of the incident, asking the body to consider whether constitutional protections remain meaningful if a person can be taken without explanation.
The senator did not name an enforcing agency in the floor remarks, nor did the senator provide a specific charging document or court action; the transcript reports only the floor announcement and the senator’s account. The senator said Mohsen was being kept in Vermont at the time of the announcement.
The Senate did not take a formal floor action in response to the announcement in the provided transcript excerpt.
Speakers relevant to this report were limited to the senator who made the announcement and the presiding officer handling floor business.
