Badar Khan Suri, Detained Over Hamas Ties, Released

Photo: Phuong Tran, ACLU of VA

India-West News Desk

DALLAS, TX – Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher, has been released on the order of a federal judge from an immigration detention center in Texas. The ruling allows the Indian national and postdoctoral fellow to return to his Virginia home as his legal team continues to challenge his detention in court.

The decision by Judge Patricia Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia came after she determined the Trump government had failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify Suri’s detention or demonstrate that he posed any threat to U.S. interests, according to NPR.

Upon his release, Suri conveyed his dehumanizing experience to NBC News, stating, “There was no charge, there was nothing. They made a sub human out of me.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserted that Suri was detained for “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media” and for having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.”

However, Suri’s legal representatives have strongly refuted these claims, arguing that his detention is a retaliatory measure stemming from his and his Palestinian American wife’s support for Palestinian causes. It has been previously reported that Suri’s father-in-law, a resident of Gaza, had once served as an advisor to a Hamas leader.

Suri’s ordeal began with his arrest by masked federal agents at his Virginia residence on March 17, upon his return home. He was informed his visa had been revoked and subsequently detained for two months in a Texas facility, despite never being charged with any crime.

Beyond the challenge to his detention, Suri also faces a separate deportation attempt by the Trump administration in Texas, with his next immigration hearing scheduled for June 3.

Details emerging from Suri’s detention paint a stark picture of his experience. The ACLU reported that Suri was transferred across five ICE facilities in three states within a mere four days before reaching the Texas detention center. There, he allegedly spent nearly two weeks in a room without a bed, subjected to constant television noise. During Ramadan, the ACLU further stated, he was denied food and water to break his fast and was issued used undergarments and a high-visibility red uniform typically assigned to individuals deemed high security risks.