Overview

• Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles has ordered the U.S. government to explain why Badar Khan Suri was moved between detention facilities in Virginia, Louisiana, and Texas after his arrest in March.
• The government claims overcrowding necessitated Suri’s transfer, but the judge expressed skepticism and requested data on detention center capacities.
• Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, is fighting deportation on grounds that it violates his First Amendment rights, with allegations linking him to Hamas propaganda.
• Government lawyers are seeking to transfer the case from Virginia to Texas, where courts are seen as more conservative, a move Suri’s attorneys argue constitutes forum shopping.
• The deportation stay issued by Judge Giles in March remains in effect as the court evaluates the legality of the government’s actions and claims.