New York, NY—Today, Dr. Badar Khan Suri was released on bail from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention by Virginia U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles. Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow on a student visa at Georgetown University from India, was arrested by masked immigration agents outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia on March 17. Khan Suri was never charged with a crime. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has argued that Khan Suri was arrested under the Immigration and Nationality Act because of social media posts by him and his wife about Palestine.
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Freedom of speech will always be a fundamental American value. Dr. Badar Khan Suri received justice today, as a federal judge has once again ruled that Donald Trump’s political prisoners should not be jailed by ICE because of their Constitutionally protected speech. The judicial system, and Americans across the country, are beginning to understand that Trump and Rubio’s repression of student activists is not just morally reprehensible, but also legally dubious. The government’s case against Khan Suri must now be thrown out, and he should be allowed to return to his research. Mahmoud Khalil must be freed next. People of conscience must stand up for every individual’s rights, before they are taken away from all of us. We demand that elected officials at all levels of government fight back against Trump’s attacks on free speech and due process.”