Good news from Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08), who has worked very hard at freeing Dr. Badar Khan Suri since his outrageous arrest and detention by ICE two months ago. As Rep. Beyer says, “The Trump Administration punished Dr. Khan Suri for rights protected by the First Amendment, denied him due process, then whisked him out of Virginia and into Texas as quickly as it could in search of a more favorable judicial environment to further trample his rights and the Constitution.” And no, there likely won’t be consequences for the people who played a role in unjustly arresting and imprisoning Dr. Suri, but there definitely *should* be.
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Federal Judge Orders Release Of Dr. Badar Khan Suri From Detention
May 14, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today issued the following statement celebrating a ruling by Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordering the release of Beyer’s constituent, Georgetown postdoctoral fellow Dr. Badar Khan Suri, from detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):
“This ruling is a taste of justice for Dr. Badar Khan Suri at last, hopefully the first of many. The administration must comply with this ruling with all possible haste. I am grateful that thanks to Judge Giles’ ruling, Dr. Khan Suri will be returned to be with his family as his case goes forward. His wife and children deserve nothing less, just as Dr. Khan Suri did not deserve to be taken from them and held in a distant detention center for two months.
“The Trump Administration punished Dr. Khan Suri for rights protected by the First Amendment, denied him due process, then whisked him out of Virginia and into Texas as quickly as it could in search of a more favorable judicial environment to further trample his rights and the Constitution. As the case progressed, the administration failed to offer any evidence of wrongdoing by Dr. Khan Suri, and failed to offer even basic legal justification for its actions. The administration’s claims were rife with dishonesty, and Judge Giles was right to reject them, as she said, to end the chilling impact of this and other related cases on free speech across the country.
“Dr. Khan Suri was targeted because the Trump Administration wanted to instill fear on American campuses by responding with unnecessarily and illegally draconian force to students and scholars who expressed views they dislike. The administration’s treatment of Dr. Badar Khan Suri and the growing list of others like him has been authoritarian and is a gross betrayal of American values. This persecution of dissent must end.”
Judge Giles issued an order today requiring ICE to release Dr. Khan Suri and ensure his return to Virginia as his case continues to move through the legal system. In her ruling, she denied that Khan Suri is a flight risk, and did not require bond for his release. Judge Giles made clear that her ruling was motivated by protection of the First Amendment and the right to due process, and noted that her ruling is in the public interest, to end the administration’s chilling impact on free speech across the country. She also noted that the administration has not provided documents or evidence to support its claims about Dr. Khan Suri, which includes failure to provide Secretary of State Rubio’s initial determination that Dr. Khan Suri poses a threat to American foreign policy.
Dr. Badar Khan Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University who lives in Arlington, Virginia. He was in the country legally on a visa when he was detained without charges on orders from the Trump Administration in March by masked agents outside his home in Rosslyn, and moved to a series of prisons and detention centers, ultimately ending in Texas. He is still being held there today, over 1,300 miles away from his wife, who is a U.S. citizen, and three young children. According to Khan Suri’s counsel, “His son spent days crying uncontrollably following his father’s disappearance, and has now stopped speaking.” Dr. Khan Suri has never been charged with a crime and the government has never produced evidence that he did anything wrong.
Beyer met with Dr. Khan Suri’s counsel last month and attended his previous hearing before Judge Giles, which preceded this ruling. Beyer was represented by staff in the audience at today’s hearing. Beyer also previously wrote to the Acting Director of ICE seeking reevaluation of Dr. Khan Suri’s status, including consideration of his eligibility for release and alteration of his “high-risk” custody status.
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