Georgetown Scholar Detained by ICE Must Be Released, Judge Rules

The Trump administration must release a Georgetown scholar detained in Texas by immigration authorities while a Virginia federal court considers his habeas petition challenging his arrest.

The Eastern District of Virginia has jurisdiction over the habeas petition, and Badar Khan Suri is likely to succeed on the merits of his constitutional claims challenging his arrest, Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said during a Wednesday hearing.

The evidence is sufficient for the court to infer that Khan Suri’s detention “was caused by his speech” online expressing support for the Palestinians, or his wife’s ties to Gaza, Giles said. It’s in the public interest to release Khan Suri “to disrupt the chilling effect” on First Amendment protected speech and association, the judge added.

Khan Suri, an Indian national who resides in Virginia, was arrested on March 17 by US Department of Homeland Security agents. Khan Suri came to the US in 2022 on a J-1 exchange visa to work as a visiting scholar and post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University.

Khan Suri and his wife, a US citizen who lived in Gaza since she was 5-years-old, have been accused of having ties to Hamas. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs for DHS, accused Khan Suri in a March 19 post on X of having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist” and “spreading Hamas propaganda” on social media. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 15 issued a memo stating Khan Suri’s presence in the US “‘would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,’” according to court filings.

Khan Suri filed a habeas petition on March 18, asserting his arrest violated the First and Fifth Amendment.

Sophia Gregg, representing Khan Suri, on Wednesday argued he should be released or returned to the Eastern District of Virginia while Giles reviews his petition. The government didn’t argue that Khan Suri was detained for any unlawful conduct, and his detention “chills the speech of millions” of people over fears of being “whisked away” by the government, Gregg said.

The government argued Khan Suri should remain detained in Texas, and that his challenge belongs in the jurisdiction of the immigration court overseeing his removal proceedings. The government is also owed deference and discretion in detaining individuals who pose national security risks, attorneys for the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

But Khan Suri brings substantial constitutional claims challenging the government’s authority to detain him, so the statutes the government points to support its jurisdictional arguments fail to bar judicial review of his habeas petition, Giles said Wednesday.

It is also “uncontroverted” that Khan Suri made social media posts expressing support for the Palestinians and criticizing US support for Israel. Those statements “do not appear to quantify as incitement” or “true threats of violence,” and are unlikely to fall into any First Amendment exceptions, Giles said.

Khan Suri is also likely to succeed on the merits of his Fifth Amendment claim, since he hasn’t been accused or convicted of a crime, the judge said. The government offered no lawful purpose or justification for Khan Suri’s detention, Giles said.

The ACLU of Virginia, Center for Constitutional Rights, Main Street Legal Services Inc. of CUNY School of Law, and the HMA Law Firm represent Khan Suri.

The case is Khan Suri v. Trump, E.D. Va., No. 1:25-cv-00480, 5/14/25.