On Monday, Georgetown University professor Badar Khan Suri was taken from his home by disguised officers from the Trump Administration’s Department of Homeland Security because of his posts on social media. On Thursday, Suri remained in custody in Louisiana.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X Wednesday, “Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media.”
“Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas.”
“Suri’s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable” under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State “issued a determination” on Saturday, McLaughlin added.
According to his lawyer, Suri’s detention stems from his wife Mapheze Saleh’s Palestinian ancestry. Her father, Ahmed Yousef, was allegedly a top political adviser to Hamas, and she is an American who previously worked for Al Jazeera.
Suri has no criminal charges against him and is a postdoctoral fellow on a student visa.
When masked federal agents showed up at his house, they informed him that his visa had been cancelled.
According to a statement issued by Georgetown University, “We support our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable.”
According to Georgetown, the reason for Suri’s detention has not been disclosed.
Hassan Ahmad, Suri’s lawyer, said his client is set to appear before an immigration judge in Texas in May. He has no criminal history and has petitioned for his release from custody through a habeas corpus in federal court.
Suri did not engage in any political activities on behalf of Hamas, he noted.
Yousef informed The New York Times that he no longer has any involvement with Hamas and resigned from his post in the Hamas-run government in Gaza ten years ago.
Ahmad claimed that the reason Suri was arrested might have been because his father-in-law, Ahmed Yousef, was once an advisor to the slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“Mr. Suri and his family are unfortunately the latest victim of President Trump’s assault on the freedom of speech.” Ahmed stated. “Trump has made no effort to disguise the fact that the arrests of academics like Suri and Mahmoud Khalil is intended to have a chilling effect and discourage the free expression of political views which Trump dislikes.”
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“Badar Khan Suri’s detention is a clear violation of his constitutional rights and must be released,” stated U.S. Representative Don Beyer, D-Va.
“The ‘justification’ given for these violations of Mr. Suri’s right to due process is another violation of the Constitution: a blatant attack on the First Amendment,” Beyer stated.
Beyer went on to say that this is just another instance of the Trump administration stifling free expression by pursuing law-abiding professors like Mahmoud Khalil.
“Mr. Suri is here lawfully and is not accused of a crime, yet he was surrounded outside the Northern Virginia home where he lives with his wife — an American citizen — and their children, arrested by masked authorities without explanation, disappeared, imprisoned, denied access to legal counsel and had his student visa revoked.”
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