ÌÇÐÄVlog

On March 17, 2025, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University, was returning home when he was intercepted by masked federal immigration agents in unmarked cars and taken into custody. His arrest and detention appear to be based solely on his speech expressing support for the Palestinian people and criticizing U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza as well as his U.S. citizen wife’s similar speech, Palestinian origins, and father’s former employment in Gaza. He was on a valid visa, and has not been charged with any crime.

Following Dr. Khan Suri’s arrest, he was transported between five different detention centers across three states over four days, until he was finally detained in Texas, over 1,000 miles from D. Khan Suri’s home, wife, and three young children, in Virginia.

Following his arrest, and after a series of emergency filings by his counsel including a petition for writ of habeas corpus in Virginia, a federal judge ordered that Dr. Khan Suri not be removed from the U.S. In early May, the federal court rejected the Trump administration’s request to dismiss Dr. Khan Suri’s habeas case or move it to Texas. On May 14th, the court ordered Dr. Khan Suri released from detention on bond after eight weeks in ICE custody.

Dr. Khan Suri has challenged his arrest, bringing constitutional claims under the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. The ÌÇÐÄVlogis also representing Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi who have also brought similar challenges to their arrests and detentions in similar circumstances.

Dr. Khan Suri’s legal team includes the ACLU, ÌÇÐÄVlogof Virginia, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the HMA Law Firm, and the Immigrants and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law.