U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles blocked the Trump administration from deporting Georgetown University fellow Badar Khan Suri with a ruling on Thursday.
Multiple reports indicate that Giles ordered Suri not to be removed from the country while she reviewed his court petition unless she issued a new ruling approving his removal.
Suri will “not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order,” Giles said.
Suri is a native of India and is in the country as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, conducting research, studying, and teaching at the college, BBC reported. He attends Georgetown to do “doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan,” according to court filings.
The Department of Homeland Security reportedly accused him of links to the terrorist group Hamas and spreading antisemitic views and Hamas propaganda on social media. He was then promptly detained and scheduled for deportation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 15 that Suri could be deported for the accusations above.
DHS agents arrested Suri on Monday outside his Arlington, Virginia home. He was told his visa had been revoked, and he was taken to Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana, where he faces expulsion from the U.S., according to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
“Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” said Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, in a 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 under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(i).”
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Suri’s attorney, Hassan Ahmad, told CNN he is “diligently” working to secure his client’s return to his family. He welcomed the court’s ruling forbidding Suri’s deportation and called it the “first due process” his client has received since his arrest.
“We welcome Judge Giles’ ruling,” Ahmad said. “It is the first due process Dr. Khan Suri has received since he was snatched away from his family on Monday night.”
