ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) 鈥� A federal judge on Thursday ordered immigration officials not to deport a Georgetown scholar who was detained by the Trump Administration and accused of spreading Hamas propaganda in the latest battle over speech on U.S. .
U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered that Indian national Badar Khan Suri 鈥渟hall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court issues a contrary order.鈥�
Suri鈥檚 attorney wrote in an earlier court filing that Suri was targeted because of his social media posts and his wife鈥檚 鈥渋dentity as a Palestinian and her constitutionally protected speech.鈥�
鈥淒r. Suri is an academic, not an activist," his attorney Hassan Ahmad wrote in a court filing on Thursday. 鈥淏ut he spoke out on social media about his views on the Israel-Gaza war. Even more so, his wife is an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and the violence it has perpetrated against Palestinians.鈥�
Suri's attorney argued that federal authorities have provided no evidence that he鈥檚 committed any crimes and that his detention violates his free speech and due process rights. Suri, who has no criminal record, holds a visa authorizing him to be in the U.S. as a visiting scholar, and his wife is a U.S. citizen, according to the motion.
鈥淭he Trump Administration has openly expressed its intention to weaponize immigration law to punish noncitizens whose views are deemed critical of U.S. policy as it relates to Israel,鈥� Suri's attorney wrote.
Suri was accused of 鈥渟preading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media鈥� and determined to be deportable by the Secretary of State鈥檚 office, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said late Wednesday on the social platform X. Suri鈥檚 case was first reported by Politico.
Suri was arrested Monday night outside of his Virginia home, where he lives with his wife and three children, who are between the ages of 5 and 9, according to the filing by his lawyer.
Masked agents 鈥渞efused to tell him the basis for the arrest, handcuffed him, and forced him into an unmarked black SUV,鈥� Suri's lawyer wrote. 鈥淒r. Suri鈥檚 wife quickly arrived on the scene and begged for answers; the agents only disclosed that they were from Homeland Security, the government was revoking Dr. Suri鈥檚 visa, and he would be detained in Chantilly.鈥�
Suri and his wife, Mapheze Saleh, 鈥渉ave long been doxxed and smeared,鈥� Suri's lawyer wrote, while she said in a separate statement to the court that a website had "claimed falsely that my husband and I have 鈥榯ies to Hamas.鈥�"
鈥淚 feel completely unsafe and can鈥檛 stop looking out the door, terrified that someone else will come and take me and the children away as well,鈥� she said in her statement.
Saleh was born in Missouri but spent much of her life in Gaza after age five, according to court filings. She and Suri married in New Delhi, India, in 2013 and lived there before moving to the U.S.; he came in 2022 and she and their children joined him the following year.
Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown, told The Associated Press that Suri was intensely focused on teaching and research that centered on religion and peace processes in the Middle East and South Asia.
Suri felt strong solidarity and sympathy for Palestinians, but was not outwardly political on campus, the professor said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e organized dozens of events since Oc. 7th, when the Israel-Gaza war began, and I don鈥檛 recall seeing him in any of those events,鈥� said Hashemi, who directs the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, where Suri is a post-doctoral fellow. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not who he was.鈥�
Before his arrest, Suri and his wife had been targets of right-wing campus groups, in part because Saleh's father is Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to Hamas, Hashemi said.
Yousef confirmed to The New York Times that Suri is his son-in-law, adding that Suri wasn't involved in any 鈥減olitical activism,鈥� including on behalf of Hamas.
Yousef, who has publicly criticized the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, told the newspaper that he left his position in the Hamas-run government in Gaza more than a decade ago and does not hold a senior position with the militant group.
Georgetown's Alwaleed Center said in a statement that Suri's arrest was part of a "campaign by the Trump Administration to destroy higher education in the United States and punish their political opponents.鈥�
Suri was later taken to a detention facility in Louisiana, according to a government website. His lawyers are seeking his immediate release and to halt deportation proceedings through their habeas motion filed Tuesday against the Trump administration.
Suri鈥檚 detention more than 1,000 miles (about 1,600 kilometers) away from his family and attorney is 鈥減lainly intended as retaliation and punishment for Mr. Suri鈥檚 protected speech,鈥� his attorney added.
Separately, Columbia University student activist , a legal U.S. resident with no criminal record, was detained earlier this month over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and is fighting deportation efforts in federal court. And , a kidney transplant specialist who previously worked and lived in Rhode Island, was deported over the weekend despite having a U.S. visa.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, whose district includes the county where Suri was detained, said in a Thursday statement that the scholar鈥檚 detention was illegal, urging the court to consider Suri鈥檚 case.
鈥淭he 鈥榡ustification鈥� given for these violations of Mr. Suri鈥檚 right to due process is another violation of the Constitution: a blatant attack on the First Amendment,鈥� Beyer said in a statement. 鈥淢r. Suri and his family are unfortunately the latest victim of President Trump鈥檚 assault on the freedom of speech.鈥�
Suri鈥檚 lawyers say he hopes to become a university professor. A Georgetown webpage said that he earned a doctorate in India while studying efforts to introduce democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq, and he has traveled extensively in conflict zones in several countries.
The university said in a statement Thursday that Suri was 鈥渄uly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.鈥�
鈥淲e support our community members鈥� 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,鈥� the school said.
The U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement detainee locator website lists Suri as being in the custody of immigration officials at the Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana.
___
Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
Olivia Diaz And Ben Finley, The Associated Press
