The ruling follows weeks of legal debate over whether detention was a legitimate immigration lawsuit or unconstitutional retaliation.
A federal judge ordered the immediate release of Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Sri on Tuesday. The Trump administration has accused him of having ties with Hamas terrorist groups.
A decision issued by Virginia District Judge Patricia Toliver Giles on May 14 will allow student visas to return to Virginia to Indian citizens resident in the United States, as legal challenges progress to the government. He spent nearly two months custody of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Justice that justice has been rejected is being rejected,” Suri told reporters after leaving the Alvarado detention facility, about 40 miles southwest of Dallas. “It took me two months and I’m so grateful that I’ve finally gotten free.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has accused Suri of spreading Pro-Hamas’ propaganda and anti-Semitism messages online. DHS spokesman Tricia McLaughlin said in March that Sri had “closely linked to known or suspected terrorists,” and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had issued a resolution to cancel Sri’s visa. In court, Trump administration lawyers argued that pickpockets should not be released because he poses a threat to the community and was a flight risk.
In a habeas-protection petition, Suri’s lawyers argued that his arrest on March 18 was an excuse for the Trump administration’s crackdown on scholars and activists who criticized the US support of Israel’s military action in Gaza. The petition has not been made public, but the copy obtained through Georgetown’s voice and related court filings describes the government’s case against Sri as arbitrary and whimsical, violating his First Amendment right to free speech and the Fifth Amendment right of justice.
During the court proceedings, Suri’s lawyers argued that his detention was punitive and intended to cool free speech. Sri’s wife, Mapeze Saleha, welcomed the court’s decision.
“When I heard the judge say something, my eyes started to cry,” Saleh, a US citizen, added in a statement released by the Virginia ACLU, that “speaking” about what’s going on in Gaza is “not a crime.”
In addition to citing “reasons stated in the open court,” the judge’s order does not give details about justification for her decision. However, a report on Wednesday’s court hearing in Georgetown’s voice shows that during the lawsuit the judge said the Trump administration did not provide sufficient evidence to support his claims that it supported Suri’s detention.
The judge had already rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to dismiss the pickpocket habeas corps case or move it to Texas, according to a May 6 filing. In that order, Giles sharply criticized her for describing SURI as an obvious effort by the government for the “forum shop”, which makes it more difficult for lawyers to submit legal assignments.
When the petition was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, Suri’s legal team had no idea where he was being held. He was arrested in Virginia and told him he would be transferred to a facility in Farmville on May 6th. Instead, he was transported to Louisiana and Texas, where he was housed in overcrowding and was said to have been issued with used clothing and religious accommodation during Ramadan.
Requests for comment regarding the sentencing sent to DHS were not immediately returned.
Suri’s next immigration hearing is scheduled for June 3 in Texas, and the government continues its efforts to deport him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
