A US court has blocked the Trump administration from deporting a Georgetown University researcher who was detained by immigration authorities earlier this week.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national, is a postdoctoral fellow studying and teaching at the prestigious Washington DC institution on a student visa.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused him of “spreading Hamas propaganda” and having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist”.
Mr Suri’s lawyer and employer have denied the allegation. His lawyer said in a court filing that his client was targeted because of his wife’s “identity as a Palestinian and her constitutionally protected speech”.
In an order on Thursday, Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said Mr Suri “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court issues a contrary order”.
Mr Suri’s arrest follows the detention or deportation of other foreign students and academics, including Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist.
Mr Suri was arrested outside his home in northern Virginia on Monday night by masked immigration agents, according to legal filings seen by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
He was told the agents were with DHS, the filings say, and they informed him the government had revoked his visa and he was now facing expulsion from the country.
Mr Suri was taken to Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana where he is being held, according to US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at DHS, said on X that Mr Suri was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media”.
She accused him of having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas” without providing any further detail.
Mr Suri’s father-in-law is a former advisor to killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the Washington Post and New York Times reported.
His court filings allege that he and his wife Mapheze Saleh – a US citizen of Palestinian descent – had “long been doxxed and smeared” online by an “anonymously-run blacklisting site”.
The BBC has contacted Mr Suri’s lawyer for more details.
A spokesman for Georgetown University told the BBC that Mr Suri had been “granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
The institution was “not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention”.
“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,” the spokesman said. “We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.”
In her post on X, Ms McLaughlin said Secretary of State Marco Rubio “issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suri’s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable”.
The BBC has contacted DHS to request more detail on the allegations against Mr Suri, and also asked the Indian embassy in Washington DC for comment.
Several students and academics have been investigated by US immigration authorities in recent weeks for their perceived pro-Palestinian views.
Khalil, a Columbia graduate and permanent US resident, was arrested on 8 March after being involved in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. He was accused of having ties to Hamas, which he denies.
Columbia students Leqaa Kordia and Ranjani Srinivasan, and Brown University professor Rasha Alawieh, have also faced detention and scrutiny from US immigration authorities in recent weeks.
