U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Badar Khan Suri, an Indian doctoral student at Georgetown University, on Monday, accusing him of disseminating Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official.
Suri, who was in the U.S. on a student visa, was detained outside his home in Arlington, Virginia, and transported to a detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana. He faces deportation proceedings under a rarely used section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that grants the Secretary of State broad authority to remove non-citizens deemed detrimental to U.S. foreign policy.
"Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated on X. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued the determination to revoke Suri's visa on March 15.
The case is part of a broader Trump administration effort targeting non-citizens accused of supporting terrorist organizations or expressing opposition to U.S. foreign policy. Earlier this month, Rubio cited the same statute in seeking the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist. Khalil is challenging his detention in court.
Suri's attorney, Hassan Ahmad, filed a habeas corpus petition Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, demanding his client's immediate release. The petition alleges that Suri is being unlawfully punished for his wife's Palestinian heritage and their support for Palestinian rights.
"This is just another example of our government abducting people the same way they abducted Khalil," Ahmad said in an interview, adding that he had been unable to contact Suri as of Wednesday evening.
The petition points out that Suri has no criminal record and has not been charged with a crime. It also notes that Suri and his wife, Mapheze Saleh-an American citizen-have been targeted by far-right websites, which have publicized her Palestinian background and her family's ties. Saleh's father, Ahmed Yousef, is a former senior political adviser to Hamas, according to a 2018 Hindustan Times article.
Georgetown University confirmed Suri's enrollment and said he was pursuing research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention," a university spokesperson said in a statement. "We support our community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable."
According to Georgetown's website, Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and teaches a course on "Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia."
An online locator showed Suri being held at an ICE staging facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, as of Wednesday evening. The federal court has yet to assign a judge to his case or take action on the petition.
