A federal judge in Virginia has ordered the release of a Georgetown University researcher picked up by ICE in March and detained in Texas pending removal proceedings.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national, came to the U.S. in December 2022 through the J-1 exchange program to participate in a fellowship at Georgetown. His wife, Mapheze Selah, a U.S. citizen who had resided in Gaza since the age of 5 and whom he met in Gaza as part of a humanitarian convoy, returned to the U.S. with their three young children in November 2023. Saleh’s father is a former deputy of foreign affairs in Gaza.
Per court pleadings:
In October 2023, Ms. Saleh began sharing posts online detailing events in Gaza and “express[ing] sorrow for the deaths of Gazan people.” Id. ¶ 11. By February 2025, Ms. Saleh learned that she was being targeted by certain websites because of her posts…
