Indian Student Badar Khan Suri Allowed To Work, Continues To Fight Deportation

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump administration has reached a settlement allowing Indian Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri to return to his academic position while legal proceedings over efforts to deport him continue.

The agreement, revealed on August 5 in court filings, partially resolves a dispute that began when ICE agents arrested Suri without prior warning in March outside his Arlington, Virginia home as part of a crackdown on pro-Palestinian academics.

According to the settlement, Suri can resume his role as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. This marks a significant step forward after ICE terminated his record in their system in March, which effectively halted his ability to work and impacted his two young children’s student statuses, both tied to his immigration standing. The reinstatement of his status has been made retroactive to March 18.

While the settlement restores Suri’s employment and his family’s records, it does not resolve the core legal battles over his right to remain in the U.S.

U.S. District Judge William Young is currently considering whether the administration engaged in an unconstitutional practice of targeting immigrants based on their political speech, according to a Politico report.

Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh is a U.S. citizen, but the Trump administration targeted Suri partly because of Saleh’s father’s previous advisory role to Hamas leadership. Under the terms of the agreement, the administration will maintain Suri’s student status unless new, independently verified legal grounds emerge, in which case officials must provide him with 21 days’ notice before taking further action.