A federal judge has ordered immigration officials to release a Georgetown scholar who was recently detained by the Trump administration after being accused of spreading pro-Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.
U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles in the eastern district of Virginia ruled Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must free Badar Khan Suri, saying his detention is in violation of the First Amendment.
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Khan Suri, who has lived in northern Virginia with his American citizen wife, Mapheze Saleh, and their three children, was taken into custody on March 17 by masked agents who identified themselves as Department of Homeland Security officers and claimed that Khan Suri's visa had been revoked. The Indian national was ultimately transferred to a detention facility in Texas.
Khan Suri's attorneys argued that the arrest was politically motivated, citing his outspoken support for Gaza and his marriage to a Palestinian-American. Conversely, government attorneys maintained that the revocation of his visa by Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified his continued federal custody.
The judge, however, rejected that argument. Following the ruling, Saleh read a statement from her husband.
"Because I am married to a Palestinian, and because I spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, then I should wear it as a badge of honor," the statement read. "What I endure here is a drop in the ocean compared to the pain of the Palestinian who has been bombed, starved, and massacred for 585 days. Their suffering is lived every hour and their skies buzzing with the drones over a ground full of rubble while the world watches in silence. If standing with them is a crime then I carry that guilt with pride."
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Although the court's ruling has granted Khan Suri the possibility of release, he remains in a Texas detention facility while awaiting additional details from the judge. His attorneys indicated that Khan Suri is aware of the ruling thanks to an official present with him.
Meanwhile, further legal proceedings against Khan Suri are still pending. The government may also appeal Wednesday's decision in a federal court, potentially reversing the lower court's ruling.
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