Indian Student Detained In US For Alleged Ties With Hamas, Facing Deportation: Report

Suri was detained by masked men outside his home in the Rosslyn neighbourhood of Arlington, Virginia, on Monday night, his lawyer said in a lawsuit.

Suri was detained by masked men outside his home in the Rosslyn neighbourhood of Arlington.

Source : Georgetown360

An Indian student studying at Georgetown University has been detained and is facing deportation for having alleged ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, US media reported.

A Politico report said the researcher, Badar Khan Suri, was studying and teaching on a student visa. Suri was detained by masked men outside his home in the Rosslyn neighbourhood of Arlington, Virginia, on Monday night, his lawyer said in a lawsuit. The agents identified themselves as being with the Department of Homeland Security and told him the government had revoked his visa.

Suri's lawyer Hassan Ahmad alleged that he is being punished because of the Palestinian heritage of his wife and because the government suspects that he and his wife oppose US foreign policy toward Israel.

Suri has been detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of opposing American foreign policy, the report quoted court papers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was of the view that Suri's activities "rendered him deportable", Fox News cited the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) order.

Columbia University Students Deported 

The same rarely-used section of immigration law was also used to deport a Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil who had allegedly led pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.

Suri's lawyer told Reuters, "If an accomplished scholar who focuses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar."

This comes days after Indian student, Ranjani Srinivasan self-deported by using the CBP Home App after escaping detention. Srinivasan, a student of Urban Planning at Columbia University, was accused of antisemitism. 

She had entered the US on an F-1 student visa, which allows a person to enter the United States as a full-time student.