Another Legal Resident Faces Deportation for Vague Allegations That They Support Terrorists
The Trump administration keeps arresting legal immigrants with views they don't like.
Yet another legal U.S. resident is facing deportation for nebulous claims that they have expressed support for terrorism.
A Georgetown University postdoctoral student was arrested by immigration officials and sent to a detention facility in Louisiana—all because of his wife's "identity as a Palestinian and her constitutionally protected speech," according to a legal document obtained by the Associated Press.
Badar Khan Suri is an Indian citizen studying as a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He was arrested by Homeland Security agents outside his home in Virginia on Monday night, according to the A.P.
"Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media," Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Wednesday post on X. "Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas. The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suri's activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable."
On Thursday, a judge ruled that Suri could not be deported without due process, ordering that he "shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court issues a contrary order."
As of Friday morning, it's unclear what speech the Trump administration is using to justify deportation proceedings against Suri, nor is it clear the nature of his alleged connection to a senior Hamas adviser. But The Washington Post reported that the "advisor to Hamas" is likely a reference to Suri's wife, "a U.S. citizen who once worked with the Gaza foreign ministry and whose father, Ahmed Yousef, is a former political advisor to the now-deceased Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh."
In a statement to CBS News, a Georgetown spokesperson said that the school "[has] not received a reason for his detention," adding that, "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. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly."
This is far from the first time a legal U.S. resident has faced deportation for shaky allegations that they supported terrorists. Earlier this month, Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with Trump administration officials justifying his detention on the grounds that activists at pro-Palestine protests he organized passed out pro-Hamas flyers. Last week, a Brown University physician was deported to Lebanon after border officials alleged that she had attended the funeral of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
"The Trump Administration has openly expressed its intention to weaponize immigration law to punish noncitizens whose views are deemed critical of U.S. policy as it relates to Israel," Suri's lawyer wrote in a legal document obtained by the A.P., adding that the deportation is "plainly intended as retaliation and punishment for Mr. Suri's protected speech."
