Georgetown peace scholar detained for speech last year asks appeals court to reaffirm his freedom

RICHMOND, Va. – Georgetown scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri was at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today asking the court to affirm previous lower court rulings that ordered the government to release him on bail. Exactly one year ago today, ICE grabbed Dr. Suri as he came home from an iftar celebration, put him on a plane, and then detained him for nearly six weeks at a private detention center in Texas known for its human rights abuses. To this day, the only justification for Dr. Suri’s arrest remains his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights and his family ties to Gaza.

“When I came to America to study how governments descend into authoritarianism, I could never have expected to be living the very research I came here to do, and yet today marks exactly one year since I was brutally taken from my family and unjustly imprisoned by the U.S. government for voicing my opposition to Israel’s atrocities in Gaza,” said Dr. Badar Khan Suri. “I’m grateful to be standing here as a free man, but terrified that it could be taken away from me at any moment. I am asking the Fourth Circuit to affirm what every American schoolchild is taught, that in this country, you cannot be thrown in prison for speaking truth to power.”

In its appeal, the administration took a narrow view of the courts’ habeas jurisdiction, arguing that because it quickly swept Dr. Suri out of Virginia without notice to his family or lawyers, the Virginia court does not have jurisdiction to hear his petition, and that it should be handled by a court in Texas. It also argued that no federal district court has authority to review the constitutionality of Dr. Suri’s detention until the executive branch finishes its own administrative immigration process, which can take months or years.

“The First Amendment protects all of us, regardless of our political opinions or associations – and we all deserve speedy protection from the courts when that right is infringed upon. When the government ignores those rights to go after a peace studies scholar, we’re all in danger,” said Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The government's attempt to weaponize immigration law to silence dissent and take away someone’s liberty is unconstitutional and should worry every person in this country. We won’t stop fighting to keep Dr. Suri free, and home with his wife and children where he belongs.”

In court, Dr. Suri’s legal team explained that the federal court in Virginia has jurisdiction over Dr. Suri’s habeas petition, and he must remain free while his case is considered.

“Courts have always been an important check on unlawful government attempts to silence and retaliate against people for their speech, and Dr. Suri’s case should be no different. The Trump administration is trying to silence speech it doesn’t agree with by targeting people like Dr. Suri and Mahmoud Khalil, but ideas are not illegal,” said Geri Greenspan, senior staff attorney with ACLU of Virginia. “Americans don't want to live in a country where the federal government can lock people up just because it doesn't like their views.”

Dr. 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 by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Van Der Hout LLP.