'I'm here with our friend from the Upper Valley,' Peter Welch tells Mohsen Mahdawi. Sen. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) visited detained Columbia University activist Mohsen Mahdawi on Monday, calling him a 'friend' and praising his work with 'Jewish brothers and sisters' on Columbia's campus. Mahdawi, who, like fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil, saw the Trump administration revoke his green card, is at an immigration facility in Vermont as he fights his deportation. Welch released a video of their Monday meeting at the facility, during which he described Mahdawi as a 'friend from the Upper Valley,' commended him for 'staying so positive despite your circumstances,' and asked him to describe how he has 'worked with some of your Jewish brothers and sisters at Columbia.'