Topline
A Virginia-based federal district judge ruled Thursday the Trump administration cannot deport a Georgetown University researcher accused of having connections to Hamas, hindering the administration’s latest attempt to deport students it claims have connections to the militant group.
The ruling was made Thursday. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said in a filing Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court issues a contrary order.”
Suri, who is being held at a detention center in Louisiana, was accused by the Department of Homeland Security this week of spreading antisemitism on social media and having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas.”
Suri’s lawyer denied the allegations against the researcher, claiming in court Suri was targeted over his wife’s “identity as a Palestinian and her constitutionally protected speech.”
A Georgetown University spokesperson told multiple outlets Suri was granted a visa into the U.S. to continue doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting the university was “not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention.”
Suri’s wife, a Palestinian American studying in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, an ex-adviser to late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, according to The Washington Post and The New York Times.
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Key Background
Suri is one of multiple students the Trump administration has sought to deport in its campaign against foreign-born student visa holders it has accused of wrongdoing from universities involved in pro-Palestinian protests last year. Palestinian green card holder and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested this month and, like Suri, was told his student visa was revoked, sparking backlash from civil rights advocates and even some conservative figures who argued the arrest violated the First Amendment. Khalil’s lawyers said in a filing the agents who arrested him gave “no basis for the revocation” of his student visa. Khalil is also being held at a detention facility in Louisiana, with a judge ruling Thursday his case will be moved to New Jersey. The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 allowed the Trump administration to push for Khalil’s deportation without formally charging him of a crime. As Khalil’s lawyers fight for their client’s release, the Trump administration will have to prove in the case exactly how Khalil’s presence in the U.S. is a foreign policy threat.
Further Reading
Second Palestinian Columbia Student Arrested: DHS Says Protester Overstayed Her Visa (Forbes)
Columbia Expels And Pulls Degrees For Some Students Who Occupied Building During Pro-Palestinian Protests (Forbes)
Mahmoud Khalil Still Detained In Louisiana—At Least For Now—Following Court Hearing: What We Know (Forbes)
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