Alexandria, Virginia — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of a Georgetown University researcher who was detained by immigration authorities in March as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on activists across college campuses.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered the release of Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral associate who was studying and teaching at Georgetown on a student visa and who is currently detained by ICE in Texas. Giles found that Suri’s detention violated his First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.
Suri is married to a U.S. citizen whose father was a government official and advisor in Gaza.
The government cited his alleged “close connections” to a Hamas official as justification for revoking the visa, saying he was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda.” In March, Suri was surrounded and detained by masked Homeland Security agents as he was returning to his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, after breaking his fast for Ramadan.
One day after he was taken into custody, Giles blocked the government from deporting Suri as court proceedings played out.
ACLU Attorney Sophia Gregg called Suri’s detention an “ongoing infringement” on his constitutional rights that “chills the speech of millions and millions” across the country who are protesting the ongoing war in Gaza.
In a statement after the ruling, the ACLU’s legal director in Virginia Eden Heilman called Suri’s detention an “unprecedented attack by this administration designed to punish students and academics for their views.”
The Justice Department, as it did in the cases of other students who were detained for what the government has classified as “illegal protests,” said that only immigration judges could free Suri and that the government had a right to detain him until his removal proceedings were finalized.
Giles disagreed with their arguments.
“The government has consistently made that argument across multiple jurisdictions,” Giles said. “No one has adopted that.” She said in her order from the bench that she has jurisdiction to free Suri while his habeas proceedings play out in Virginia and his removal proceedings continue.
Giles also refuted the government’s claims that he has ties to Hamas through his father-in-law.
Despite public statements from the White House and other Trump administration officials about Suri, his wife and father-in-law, Giles said “there was no evidence submitted to this court regarding statements that he made,” in support of Hamas.
“I join several other courts… that speech regarding the conflict [in Gaza] and opposing Israel’s military actions are likely protected First Amendment speech,” Giles said, adding that she finds Suri’s “detention and apprehension was caused by his speech.”
Earlier this month, Giles ruled that she has appropriate jurisdiction in the case and that the Eastern District of Virginia is the proper venue, siding with Suri’s attorneys despite a Justice Department argument that the case should be moved to Texas, where Suri is detained.
In their initial court filings, Suri’s attorneys said his detention is “unjustified” and violates his due process rights. They argued that the Trump administration’s targeting of noncitizens for removal based on protected speech, namely his and his wife’s views of Israel and Gaza, is “arbitrary and capricious” and constitutes viewpoint discrimination. They said that he has no criminal record and has not been charged with any crime.
The complaint alleged that the couple had “long been doxxed and smeared” online by an “anonymously-run blacklisting site” known as The Canary Mission. The site alleges that Saleh, who Suri’s attorneys said is a U.S. citizen, “has worked for Hamas, expressed support for Hamas terrorism and called for Israel’s destruction,” according to a profile dedicated to her on the site. The Canary Mission, the complaint said, runs a blacklist of individuals who its creators believe support Palestinian rights and “is infamous for bullying, slandering, and defaming academics and students.” The complaint also alleges that the couple were “smeared” by other websites.
A Georgetown University spokesperson said Suri obtained his visa “to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention,” the school spokesperson told CBS News. “We support our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be
difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.”
Giles ordered Suri’s release with no bond and no conditions, finding that he was not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
