On Wednesday, Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri from India was released from immigration detention due to a ruling by US District Judge Patricia Toliver Giles of Virginia.
Suri, who held a student visa, had been arrested in March on the grounds that his “activities and presence in the US made him deportable.” Reports indicated that he was accused of spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media, along with having connections to individuals linked to Hamas.
Although he faced no criminal charges, Suri was transferred among five different ICE facilities before eventually being sent to Texas. He appealed his arrest, referencing the First and Fifth Amendments, and was released by Virginia families while awaiting an immigration hearing set for June.
Suri’s wife, Mapeze Saleha, expressed her emotional relief upon hearing the judge’s decision. She emphasized, “It’s not a crime to talk about what’s going on in Palestine. Let’s show the world that this country is a place where people can express their beliefs without fear.”
Saleha, a Palestinian-American, is reportedly connected to Ahmed Yousef, a senior political advisor to a Hamas leader. Meanwhile, Robert M. Groves, the interim president of Georgetown University, issued a letter a week after Suri’s arrest, expressing concern over the circumstances of his detention and the implications for free speech.
Suri’s release coincides with the earlier release of Lu Mesa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student who had also been detained for alleged support of Hamas.
