Trump administration ordered to explain moves after Georgetown scholar's shocking arrest
Alexandria, Virginia - Lawyers for Georgetown University scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri, who was arrested as part of the Trump administration's anti-Palestine crackdown, argued on Thursday that the case should remain in Virginia and that he should be released from detention in Texas.
Federal agents arrested Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University's Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, outside his Virginia home on March 17. He had a student visa and is married to a US citizen.
Suri's wife, Mapheze Saleh, is Palestinian American. They were doxxed by the websites Canary Mission and CAMERA.
After his arrest, Suri was moved to five locations in three states. He is currently locked up in a detention center in Texas, where the ACLU says he spent almost two weeks in a room without a bed and was issued used underwear and a bright red high-risk uniform. ICE officials denied him water and food to break his fast as he was observing Ramadan.
US District Court Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles gave the government lawyers 24 hours to explain why Suri was moved so far from his home.
In detaining Suri, an Indian national, the Trump administration cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act which allows the secretary of state to deport noncitizens if their presence is deemed a threat to US foreign policy.
"The Trump administration says Badar is a threat to the foreign policy of the United States. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Badar is a man of peace who studies peace. He is a scholar who loves books and teaching," Saleh said in a press release.
"I miss Badar. Our three children are missing their father. All we want, all we are praying for, is justice and freedom."
Dr. Badar Khan Suri's lawyers urge his release from custody in Texas
On Tuesday this week, a federal judge in New Jersey rejected the government's attempt to shut down a case challenging the detention of Palestinian Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.
The following day, Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested by US immigration officers last month during a citizenship interview, was released on bail.
Suri's lawyers argued that he should also be released on bond, or if not, that he should be transferred to Virginia so he may be closer to his family and his attorneys.
"The Trump administration has unlawfully arrested, detained, and targeted Dr. Suri and others for exercising their First Amendment rights," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer.
"The fight to free Dr. Suri is also a fight to preserve the constitutional liberties that protect us all," Bauer continued. "We will continue to defend Dr. Suri’s freedom to speak and to associate with his wife and family in the face of these unfounded attacks, and we are confident he will ultimately prevail."
A federal judge in March blocked Suri's deportation as his legal case plays out.
The Trump administration is trying to deport Suri through proceedings pending in immigration court in Texas. An initial hearing in that case is set for May 6.
Cover photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire