Georgetown scholar to be freed from detention in another loss for the Trump administration

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal court today ordered Dr. Badar Khan Suri released from detention on bond eight weeks after immigration authorities arrested him in retaliation for constitutionally protected speech and associations. He will be able to return from Texas to Virginia, where his case challenging the constitutionality of his arrest is proceeding, and where he lives with his wife and three children.

“Hearing the judge’s words brought tears to my eyes,” said Dr. Khan Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh. “I 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’s happening in Palestine is not a crime. Let’s show the world that this country is still a place where people can and do express their beliefs without fear.”

Dr. Khan Suri, an Indian national, is a lawful visa holder married to a Palestinian-American U.S. citizen. Prior to his arrest, both were doxxed by the extremist blacklisting websites Canary Mission and CAMERA. Federal immigration agents abducted Dr. Khan Suri outside his home on March 17th for speech in support of Palestinian rights and family ties to Gaza, then secretly transported him 1,500 miles away from his family and his attorneys.

After being transferred to five different ICE facilities across three states in just four days, Dr. Khan Suri arrived at an immigration detention center in Texas, where he spent nearly two weeks in a room without a bed and with a television blaring twenty-one hours a day. He was observing the holy month of Ramadan, but ICE officials denied him water and food to break his fast. He was issued used underwear, as well as a bright red high-risk uniform reserved for people alleged to pose the greatest security threats.

“The Constitution protects us all – regardless of citizenship – from being targeted by the government for our political speech and our family associations. The Trump administration is trying to silence speech it doesn’t agree with by targeting people like Dr. Khan Suri and Mahmoud Khalil, but ideas are not illegal,” said ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Eden Heilman. “Dr. Khan Suri’s 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’t stop fighting until Dr. Khan Suri gets justice.”

Last week, the judge rejected the Trump administration’s request to dismiss Dr. Khan Suri’s habeas case or move it to Texas, keeping it in Virginia. Separately, Dr. Khan Suri’s immigration case, in which the Trump administration is seeking to have him deported, is proceeding in Texas. The next immigration hearing is scheduled for June 3rd.

Today’s ruling adds to mounting losses for the Trump administration in cases in which it has arrested immigrant students and academics for criticizing U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza. In the last two weeks, federal courts have similarly ordered Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk released from detention.

“We are so glad that Dr. Khan Suri will very soon be free – to be with his family, with his community, and to return to his studies,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “The court’s order today should send a clear message to the Trump administration that it cannot arrest someone, rip them away from their family, and incarcerate them just for standing in solidarity with Palestinians and against the genocide in Gaza.”

“The administration’s attempt to misuse the immigration system against Dr. Khan Suri is a clear effort to bypass due process and suppress protected speech," said Nermeen Arastu, associate professor at CUNY School of Law. “Dr. Khan Suri’s release demonstrates the strength of his principles, the power of community organizing, and the impact of legal advocacy. But it also serves as a stark reminder of how vulnerable our rights become when government overreach is left unchallenged.”

Dr. Khan Suri is challenging his arrest and detention under the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act. He is represented in his federal lawsuit by the ACLU of Virginia, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the HMA Law Firm, and the Immigrants and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law.

For more information, please see the case page.