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.

ICE can’t be allowed to corrupt Virginia’s judicial system

"Virginians who rely on the protection of the courts will be forced to go without it if ICE's presence means Virginia courthouses are no longer safe. We won’t let our judicial system be corrupted into a despotic mechanism for masked men to ‘disappear’ Virginians," said ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights

Virginia’s governor and attorney general are wrong to support President Trump’s unlawful deployment of the military in Los Angeles

“It is shameful that Virginia’s governor would make comments – and Virginia’s attorney general would sign on to a letter – extoling the president’s unlawful deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles," said ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights

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.

ICE's rogue tactics leave no safe place for immigrants

“Our courthouses should be a safe place for people to have access to the judicial process as witnesses, plaintiffs, or defendants.  These kinds of actions will have a chilling effect on all of us, especially victims of crime and witnesses who are immigrants," said Mary Bauer.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' 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.