A Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar\u00a0has been ordered released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in the most recent loss for the Trump administration its its crackdown on international students and faculty. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Federal Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered for Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national,\u00a0to be released on bond on Wednesday, almost two months after ICE arrested him on March 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Constitution protects us all \u2014 regardless of citizenship \u2014 from being targeted by the government for our political speech and our family associations. The Trump administration is trying to silence speech it doesn\u2019t agree with by targeting people like Dr. Khan Suri and Mahmoud Khalil, but ideas are not illegal,\u201d said Eden Heilman, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. \u201cDr. Khan Suri\u2019s arrest and detention far away from his family is part of an extreme and unprecedented attack by this administration designed to punish students and academics for their views, and we won\u2019t stop fighting until Dr. Khan Suri gets justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan Suri was arrested in Arlington, Va., before he was transferred to Texas to be held in ICE detention. He will be allowed to return to Virginia with his wife, a Palestinian American, and three kids while his case against the constitutionality of his arrest continues. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Trump administration argues he is a threat to the country\u2019s foreign policy due to alleged ties to Hamas, although it has not provided additional details for those allegations. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSuri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas. The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suri\u2019s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(i),\u201d Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said after his arrest. \u00a0<\/p>\n
His next hearing regarding the federal government\u2019s attempt to deport him will occur in Texas on June 3. <\/p>\n
\u201cHearing the judge\u2019s words brought tears to my eyes,\u201d said\u00a0Mapheze Saleh, Khan Suri\u2019s wife, in a release provided by his legal team. \u201cI truly wish I could give her a heartfelt hug from me and from my three children, who long every day to see their father again. Speaking out about what\u2019s happening in Palestine is not a crime. Let\u2019s show the world that this country is still a place where people can and do express their beliefs without fear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giles’s order is the latest in a string of court losses for the Trump administration as it seeks to detain and deport many of the campus demonstrators from last year’s pro-Palestinian protests.<\/p>\n