Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri to be released from detention in Texas
A federal judge in Virginia ordered the release of Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri on bail on Wednesday.
Suri was taken away by masked men outside his home on 17 March in a suburb of Washington, DC.
The men, who turned out to be federal agents, said his visa was revoked on the orders of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media".
Suri has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention since, having been transferred to a facility 1,500 miles away from his family in Alvarado, Texas, in conditions he has described as overcrowded and unsanitary.
His case, challenging the government’s attempts to deport him for his political views, will continue while Suri is reunited with his family, who live in Virginia.
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“Hearing the judge’s words brought tears to my eyes,” said Suri’s wife, Saleh. “I truly wish I could give her a heartfelt hug from me and from my three children, who long every day to see their father again. Speaking out about what’s happening in Palestine is not a crime. Let’s show the world that this country is still a place where people can and do express their beliefs without fear.”
Speaking about the judge’s decision, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia's legal director, Eden Heilman, said, “The Constitution protects us all, regardless of citizenship, from being targeted by the government for our political speech and our family associations. 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."
Heilman added that Suri’s arrest and detention were part of “an extreme and unprecedented attack…designed to punish students and academics for their views”.
Last week, the judge rejected the Trump administration’s request to dismiss Suri’s habeas case or move it to Texas, keeping it in Virginia.
Separately, Suri’s immigration case, in which the Trump administration seeks to have him deported, is being processed in Texas. The next immigration hearing is scheduled for 3 June.
After being transferred to five different ICE facilities across three states in four days, Suri arrived at an immigration detention centre in Texas, where he spent nearly two weeks in a room without a bed and with a television blaring twenty-one hours a day.
Although he was observing the holy month of Ramadan, ICE officials denied him water and food to break his fast. He was issued used underwear, as well as a bright red uniform reserved for people who allegedly pose a great security threat.
Why Badar Khan Suri was targeted
Suri's arrest in mid-March came weeks after several pro-Israel news websites began vilifying both him and his wife, Saleh, over their connection to Palestine.
Suri, who has been working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, was told that his student visa had been revoked and that he faced deportation.
In an article in late February, the pro-Israel conservative outfit Middle East Forum said they had discovered that Suri's wife is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a former senior political adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, the then leader of Hamas, who is said to have been critical of Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
Lawyers noted that Saleh was added to the pro-Israel blacklisting site Canary Mission, in which her former employment at Al Jazeera as well as her city of birth, Gaza City, was cited "as support for her alleged ties with Hamas".
Hours after Suri's case made the news, Middle East Forum claimed credit for his arrest.
Saleh described claims that her husband was considered a threat to the US as "the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard".
"Badar is a man of peace who studies peace. He is a scholar who loves books and teaching,” Saleh said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not reply to Middle East Eye's request for comment. In previous correspondence, however, they told MEE that Suri had been "actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media".
"Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas. The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suri’s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable," the statement sent to MEE read.
The Department of Homeland Security did not supply any examples of Suri's alleged antisemitism.
Suri’s release follows the release of two other students who were detained for their pro-Palestinian views in different parts of the country. In the last two weeks, federal courts have similarly ordered Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk released from detention.
“The court’s order today should send a clear message to the Trump administration that it cannot arrest someone, rip them away from their family, and incarcerate them just for standing in solidarity with Palestinians and against the genocide in Gaza,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, staff attorney at the Center for Consitutional Rights.
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