US Judge Blocks Trump's Move To Deport Indian Scholar Over Alleged Ties With Hamas
A U.S. federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's deportation of an Indian student accused of ties to Hamas.
A federal judge in the US has ordered the Trump administration not to deport Badar Khan Suri, an Indian student studying at Washington's Georgetown University over his alleged ties with Hamas.
Khan's lawyer said the United States was seeking to remove him after it accused him of harming US foreign policy.
US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered that the administration is not to remove Khan from the country unless she issues another ruling to the contrary, according to the order, reported CNN.
Khan's attorney, Hassan Ahmed, welcomed the order and said he and his team are working "diligently" to secure his client's removal from a detention facility in Louisiana where has has been since Tuesday.
“We welcome Judge Giles’ ruling,” Ahmad said in a statement to CNN. “It is the first due process Dr. Khan Suri has received since he was snatched away from his family on Monday night.”
'Not Aware Of Him Engaging In Illegal Activity'
In his statement, Ahmad said, “We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity and we have not received a reason for his detention."
“We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly," a university spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
Khan is in the US on a visa "to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a court filing said.
In an earlier letter, Georgetown University Interim President Robert Groves told its Board of Directors that Khan had been detained by the Department of Homeland Security and his visa had been revoked.
No Information To Family
Khan is married with children but his family has not been informed about his detention, his sister Khushnuma Khan told CNN. His parents who live in Uttar Pradesh have also not been informed about the detention.
“We know only as much as anyone else, which is what is reported in the media. We are currently confused about how and why this is happening to him,” she said.
In a petition filed earlier this week, Khan argued that his “targeted, retaliatory” detainment is tied to a broader effort by the Trump administration to allegedly revoke the visas of individuals “purportedly based on their participation in Palestine-related speech.”
Khushnuma said Khan's wife is from Gaza, "so maybe that is why this is happening."
Khan's wife, Mapheze Saleh, is a Palestinian, as per the petition, and a former employee of Al Jazeera.
On Wednesday, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X that Khan was "actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media. Khan Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.”
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