Georgetown University researcher detained by immigration authorities
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Healy Hall, the flagship building of Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, D.C. Photo: Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images
Federal immigration authorities detained a Georgetown University graduate student from India who was teaching at the D.C. institution on a student visa, the Trump administration confirmed Wednesday evening.
Why it matters: The detention of Badar Khan Suri comes after President Trump said the arrest by immigration authorities of the green card-holding Columbia University alumnus and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was the first of "many to come."
- Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin alleged on X Suri has connections with Hamas, while his lawyer told media his client is "innocent."
Driving the news: Suri was arrested at his Arlington, Virginia, home on Monday night by masked agents who said they were from the DHS and that his visa had been revoked, Politico first reported.
- Attorneys for Suri argue in a petition for his release that was filed in federal court Tuesday that his detention was unlawful, according to an online docket.
- McLaughlin accused Suri in her post of "spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media" and of having "close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas."
- As with Khalil, Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined "that Suri's activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable" under a provision that enables him to deport a person deemed to have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the U.S., per McLaughlin.
What they're saying: Lawyers for Suri claim the academic is being "punished" because his U.S. citizen wife is of Palestinian heritage, per Politico.
- "Seeing our government abduct and jail another innocent person is beyond contemptible," said Hassan Ahmad, a lawyer for Suri, in a media statement Wednesday night.
- "And if an accomplished scholar who focuses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar."
A Georgetown University spokesperson said in an emailed statement Friday morning Suri was "granted a visa ... to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan."
- The spokesperson said the college was "not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity" and it had not received a reason for his detention.
- "We support our community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable."
Go deeper: Immigrant rights activist's arrest marks big shift in enforcement
