US Muslim group welcomes judge’s order to release Georgetown scholar

WASHINGTON

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Wednesday welcomed a federal judge’s order to release Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar Badar Khan Suri, calling it a critical victory for free speech.

“We applaud this ruling, which is the latest important example of the judiciary pushing back against the Trump administration’s brazenly unconstitutional effort to deport college students whose only offense is speaking out against US support for the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who attended the hearing.

"All of these students must go free and the Trump administration must respect free speech," he added.

A federal judge in the state of Virginia ordered Khan Suri released from an immigration detention center Wednesday as the Trump administration continues to seek his deportation due to his previously expressed pro-Palestinian sentiments.

Judge Patricia Giles, a US district court judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled that Khan Suri be released without bond, according to multiple reports.

Khan Suri has been held in an immigration facility in the state of Texas since he was swept off the street in March outside his apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia, where he resides with his wife.

Her ruling marks at least the third major defeat for the Trump administration as it seeks to deport international students and academics who have voiced pro-Palestinian sentiments.

Two judges separately ordered the release of Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk, who is pursuing a PhD at Tufts University, and Columbia University graduate student Mohsen Mahdawi.