Judge Blocks Deportation Of Indian Postdoctoral Fellow
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WASHINGTON, DC (ANI)- A US federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s attempt to deport Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, who was detained by immigration authorities earlier this week.
In a sworn statement, his wife Mapheze Saleh said the detention had completely upended their lives and appealed to the court to allow Suri to return home to his family.
“Our children are in desperate need of their father and miss him dearly,” she said. “As a mother of three children, I desperately need his support to take care of them and me.”
Suri was taken into custody outside his home in Arlington, Virginia, under a provision of immigration law that allows the US Secretary of State to deport non-citizens deemed a threat to foreign policy. His lawyer argues that Suri, who has no criminal record, is being targeted due to his wife’s Palestinian heritage and their support for Palestinian rights.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined on March 15, 2025, that Suri’s presence in the country was a foreign policy concern. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson claimed that Suri had spread Hamas propaganda and had ties to a suspected senior Hamas advisor.
Suri’s detention is part of broader immigration actions under President Donald Trump’s administration, which aims to crack down on individuals accused of anti-American or pro-terrorist activities. The court has ordered that Suri cannot be removed from the US unless another ruling is issued.
