US judge prevents Trump administration from deporting pro-Palestinian student

WASHINGTON

A US federal judge ordered President Donald Trump’s administration not to deport Badar Khan Suri, a pro-Palestinian student, local media reported Thursday.

Suri, an Indian national and researcher at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, was detained earlier this week by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of the Trump administration’s growing efforts to target campus activists who protest US foreign policy.

The US Department of Homeland Security claimed that Suri had been promoting Hamas propaganda and antisemitism on social media.

Suri is now awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit seeking his release from detention, according to local media.

CBS News said Suri is in the US on a student visa.

Georgetown said his visa was issued for doctoral research on peacebuilding efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A university spokesperson said they had not received any explanation for Suri’s detention.

“We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention,” CBS News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Suri is being held at an ICE detention facility at Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana.

The case follows the March 8 arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate in the US legally under a green card, who was also detained by ICE.

Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, was accused of leading activities linked to Hamas.

A federal judge ruled that Khalil’s case will be heard in New Jersey rather than New York or Louisiana.

Critics of efforts to deport Khalil say the case has a chilling effect on freedom of speech for everyone in America, whether citizens or not.

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