Press Releases

Georgetown scholar to remain free after appeals court rejects Trump admin bid to re-detain him

“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 ACU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer.

Georgetown scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri, reunited with his wife and children, releases statement

“The moment I stepped out of the detention center, I inhaled deeply, a breath of freedom I had been deprived of for two, long months," said Dr. Badar Khan Suri.

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

Federal judge orders Dr. Badar Khan Suri released; ICE arrested him on March 17th for constitutionally protected speech and associations

Federal judge rules against Trump administration by keeping Dr. Khan Suri’s habeas case in Virginia

"We are pleased the court saw through the Trump administration’s attempts to manipulate the law, and we won’t stop fighting until Dr. Khan Suri is reunited with his family," said ACLU-VA Legal Director Eden Heilman.

Students sue Department of Defense schools over curriculum changes, book bans

“The government can’t scrub references to race and gender from public school libraries and classrooms just because the Trump administration doesn’t like certain viewpoints on those topics,” said Matt Callahan, Senior Supervising Attorney at the ACLU of Virginia. 
Issue Areas: First Amendment Rights

Video of arrest, new details in Trump administration’s case targeting Georgetown postdoctoral fellow Dr. Khan Suri for speech on Palestinian rights

“In my work, I’ve seen lots of injustice. I just didn't think it would happen to me here," says Dr. Khan Suri. 

ACLU of Virginia files emergency motion to stop Trump administration’s illegal deportation of Georgetown professor for exercising free speech

“Ripping someone from their home and family, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint and activism is a clear attempt by President Trump to silence dissent,” said ACLU of Virginia Senior Immigrants’ Rights Attorney Sophia Gregg.

We need you in the fight for Virginians’ civil rights and civil liberties in a second Trump term

“The results of yesterday’s election are clear, and so is the threat to our democracy that a second Trump presidential term represents," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer. "We’re ready to fight any attack on these rights with the full force of the ACLU of Virginia."

Virginians deserve answers, but without FOIA reform, Virginia universities won’t have to share them

As students go back to school, Virginians are still asking tough questions of their university administrations; to see the comprehensive results of what the ACLU of Virginia’s FOIA requests yielded, click here. 
Issue Areas: First Amendment Rights