By Graciela Tiu
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has released Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown scholar, from detention on bail, denying the Trump administration’s request for a stay of a lower court’s decision, according to the ACLU.
Suri’s arrest occurred on March 17, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody because of his association and speech in support of Palestinian rights.
The ACLU reported that the Trump administration appealed the lower court’s ruling and sought a stay that could have led to Suri’s re-detention by ICE. While the court has already ruled on the request for a stay, it is still considering the appeal, with the administration’s opening brief due July 14.
The release marks yet another legal defeat for the Trump administration in cases involving the arrest and detention of immigrant pro-Palestinian advocates, the ACLU stated.
Mary Bauer, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said Suri’s rights of speech and association were constitutionally protected and that his arrest threatened American civil liberties.
“Americans don’t want to live in a country where the federal government ‘disappears’ people whose views it doesn’t like,” Bauer said. “The First Amendment protects all of us—regardless of citizenship—from being punished by the government for our political speech.”
According to the ACLU, Suri, an Indian citizen, had a visa, and his wife and children are U.S. citizens. ICE agents arrested him outside his home after certain anti-Palestinian advocacy groups leaked his address.
Following his arrest, Suri was transported 1,500 miles away from his family and legal counsel, and moved through multiple states and facilities over the course of four days.
Suri is continuing to challenge his arrest and detention on constitutional grounds, citing the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act, the ACLU said.
He also has an ongoing immigration case in Virginia, where he is contesting the Trump administration’s attempt to deport him.
The ACLU of Virginia, the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the HMA Law Firm, and the Immigrants and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law are representing Suri in federal court.
Astha Sharma Pokharel, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, emphasized the significance of the ruling.
“The Fourth Circuit has prevented the government from re-detaining Dr. Khan Suri, recognizing what is at stake here: Dr. Khan Suri’s right to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, his continued freedom from punitive and retaliatory incarceration,” Pokharel said.
