US Georgetown University researcher detained as part of campus crackdown

ANKARA

A researcher at Washington’s Georgetown University has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of the Trump administration’s growing efforts to target campus activists who protest US foreign policy, according to press reports.

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national, is in the US on a student visa, CBS News said Wednesday.

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.

The Washington, DC-based university stressed its commitment to free inquiry and academic debate, adding: "We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly."

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

A department spokesperson further alleged that he had "close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas."

On March 15, Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Suri’s activities made him deportable under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The exact details of his arrest remain unclear.

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

A writ of habeas corpus was filed on March 18, challenging his detention.

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

Khalil, an Algerian national born in Syria to Palestinian parents, was accused of leading activities linked to Hamas.

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday 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.