Judge blocks deportation of Indian student over Hamas connections

Fri, 21 March 2025

10:46

A US federal judge has blocked the deportation of an Indian student at Georgetown University who was arrested after federal authorities accused him of actively spreading Hamas propaganda.

Badar Khan Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

In a court order dated March 20, United States District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said, It is ordered that petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order.

A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson earlier said in a statement to PTI that Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University 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. Suri's lawyer Hassan Ahmad had filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on March 18. According to the petition, the Department of Homeland Security had arrested and charged Suri with removability on March 17.

At the time of filing, Suri alleged he was being detained at the Farmville Detention Center in Farmville, Virginia, Giles' order had noted. Suri's lawyer said he and his team are working diligently to secure his client's removal from the detention facility. -- PTI

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