Washington, D.C. — March 19, 2025 An Indian national and postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, Badar Khan Suri, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Monday night outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia. The arrest, confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), stems from allegations that Suri has ties to Hamas, a Palestinian militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, and has been actively spreading its propaganda online. Suri’s student visa has been revoked, and he now faces deportation proceedings while being held at a detention facility in Alexandria, Louisiana. His legal team contends that the detention is a retaliatory measure linked to his wife’s Palestinian heritage and the couple’s outspoken criticism of U.S. foreign policy toward Israel.
The incident marks the latest in a series of high-profile immigration enforcement actions under the Trump administration targeting academics and students perceived as opposing American interests. Suri’s arrest has sparked debate over free speech, academic freedom, and the use of immigration law to silence dissent, drawing parallels to the recent detention of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil under similar circumstances.
Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding within the School of Foreign Service, was apprehended by masked ICE agents on March 17, 2025. According to a lawsuit filed by his attorney, Hassan Ahmad, in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, the agents informed Suri that his J-1 student visa had been revoked by the government (Politico, March 19, 2025). He was initially taken to a holding facility in Virginia before being transferred to the Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana, where he awaits an immigration court hearing, as confirmed by Ahmad to NBC News (NBC News, March 19, 2025).
The DHS alleges that Suri has been “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” claims articulated by spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement shared with Fox News and reiterated on X (Fox News, March 19, 2025). McLaughlin further asserted that Suri has “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas,” though no specific evidence was provided in the public statement. The decision to revoke Suri’s visa and initiate deportation proceedings was formalized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 15, 2025, under Section 237(a)(4)(C)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This provision allows the Secretary of State to deport noncitizens whose presence in the U.S. is deemed to have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” (Daily Mail Online, March 19, 2025).
Suri’s academic profile contrasts sharply with these allegations. A Ph.D. holder in Peace and Conflict Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, he has focused his research on peacebuilding in conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Georgetown University’s website (Georgetown University, accessed March 19, 2025). At Georgetown, he teaches a course titled “Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia” and is described as an interdisciplinary scholar interested in religion, violence, and peace processes in the Middle East and South Asia (The Hoya, March 19, 2025).
Suri’s attorney, Hassan Ahmad, has fiercely contested the DHS’s actions, filing a writ of habeas corpus on March 18, 2025, to challenge the legality of his client’s detention. In the petition, Ahmad argues that Suri is being targeted not for any criminal activity—he has no criminal record—but because of his wife’s Palestinian background and the couple’s vocal support for Palestinian rights (Politico, March 19, 2025). Suri is married to Mapheze Ahmad Yousef Saleh, a U.S. citizen and Georgetown graduate student whose father, Ahmed Yousef, is a former senior Hamas official and advisor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, according to multiple sources including the Daily Mail and The New York Times (Daily Mail Online, March 19, 2025; The New York Times, March 19, 2025).
Ahmad alleges that the couple has been “long doxxed and smeared” on far-right websites for their advocacy, a claim supported by a 2018 Hindustan Times article noting Saleh’s familial ties to Hamas leadership (Hindustan Times, March 19, 2025). The petition suggests that the Trump administration is using Suri’s marriage as a pretext to punish him for views critical of U.S. support for Israel, a stance Ahmad describes as constitutionally protected speech. “If an accomplished scholar who focuses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar,” Ahmad told Reuters (Reuters, March 19, 2025).
Georgetown University has expressed support for Suri, with a spokesperson stating, “We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention” (CBS News, March 19, 2025). The university emphasized its commitment to “free and open inquiry, deliberation, and debate,” even on controversial topics, and called for a fair legal process.
Suri’s detention occurs amid a wider Trump administration effort to deport foreign nationals involved in pro-Palestinian activism, particularly following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Earlier this month, ICE arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and green card holder, for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. Like Suri, Khalil faces deportation under the same INA provision, despite a lack of criminal charges (The Washington Post, March 19, 2025). A federal judge has temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation, signaling potential legal challenges to the administration’s approach (NBC News, March 19, 2025).
The administration has also targeted other individuals, including Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman arrested for overstaying her visa after participating in Columbia protests, and Rasha Alawieh, a Brown University professor denied re-entry to the U.S. after attending a Hezbollah leader’s funeral (Sambad English, March 19, 2025). President Trump has framed these actions as a crackdown on “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity,” though critics argue the lack of evidence and reliance on vague statutes undermine First Amendment protections (The New York Times, March 19, 2025).
Civil rights advocates have decried the use of immigration law as a tool to suppress dissent. “These arrests against immigrants with some form of legal status are a clear violation of the First Amendment,” a representative from an unnamed civil rights group told The New York Times (The New York Times, March 19, 2025). The Middle East Forum, a conservative think tank, has claimed credit for exposing Suri’s alleged Hamas ties in a report by research associate Anna Stanley, which may have prompted DHS action (Middle East Forum, March 19, 2025).
The DHS’s accusations center on Suri’s social media activity, though specific posts have not been publicly detailed by the agency. The Daily Mail reported a now-deleted post attributed to Suri from October 2023, in which he allegedly denied claims of atrocities during the Hamas attack on southern Israel, writing, “Three lies by Israeli occupation, no proof whatsoever of babies beheaded, rapes or mass killing at carnival” (Daily Mail Online, March 19, 2025). Such statements, if accurate, contradict his academic focus on peace processes, as noted in his Georgetown bio.
Suri’s research has taken him to conflict zones across South Asia and the Middle East, including India, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, and Palestinian territories, according to his university profile (The Washington Post, March 19, 2025). His work explores barriers to cooperation among religiously diverse societies, a theme that aligns with his teaching at Georgetown. Colleagues and students have described him as a dedicated scholar, with School of Foreign Service Dean Joel Hellman noting in an email to faculty that Suri “has not posed a threat to the security of our campus” (The Hoya, March 19, 2025).
As Suri awaits his immigration hearing, his case raises significant questions about the balance between national security and individual rights. The Trump administration’s aggressive stance, backed by figures like Secretary Rubio—who has stated, “Coming to the United States on a visa is a privilege, not a right” (Sambad English, March 19, 2025)—signals a broader intent to target perceived ideological threats. However, the absence of criminal charges or concrete evidence in Suri’s case fuels arguments that the government is overreaching.
Ahmad has yet to speak directly with Suri since his detention, complicating efforts to refine the legal strategy (Politico, March 19, 2025). The outcome of the habeas corpus petition, potentially refiled in Louisiana, could set a precedent for how similar cases are adjudicated. Meanwhile, Suri’s supporters at Georgetown and beyond rally for his release, framing his arrest as an assault on academic freedom and free expression.
As of late Wednesday, March 19, 2025, Suri remains in ICE custody, his fate uncertain amid a polarized national discourse on immigration, security, and dissent. The resolution of his case may hinge on whether the courts view his actions—or those imputed to him—as a legitimate threat or a protected exercise of speech in an increasingly contentious political landscape. 17GEN4.com
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