Overview

• U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered Badar Khan Suri’s release, citing violations of his First Amendment free-speech and Fifth Amendment due-process rights.
• Suri, an Indian national and Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow, was detained in March by ICE agents outside his Virginia home and transferred to a Texas detention center.
• The Trump administration revoked Suri’s visa, alleging ties to Hamas through his father-in-law and pro-Palestinian social media posts, though no formal evidence was presented in court.
• Judge Giles ruled Suri can reside in Virginia under personal recognizance and must attend immigration hearings in Texas virtually as his legal challenges proceed.
• Suri’s case is part of a broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, with federal courts recently ordering the release of other detained students in similar cases.