We know about the Georgetown professor’s case
What Has Happened to Yousef Suri After His Visit to Israel: Defaming the U.S. Foreign Policy Against Israel
Suri’s plight started March 17, when upon returning home following a Ramadan meal celebration, he was approached by masked federal agents who identified themselves as part of the Department of Homeland Security. They informed him that the government had revoked his visa.
In addition to being harassed for speaking out in support of Palestinians, we have been featured on websites dedicated to defaming academics and students that are involved in the pro-Palestine movement.
Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown, also told the Associated Press that Suri was focused on teaching and wasn’t involved in political activism on the highly prestigious college campus.
The Times states that Yousef was an adviser to a Hamas leader but left his position over a decade ago and publicly criticized Hamas for its attack on Israel. He told the Times that the person is not involved in political activism.
At the time of his arrest on Monday, Suri was teaching a course and attending Georgetown as a postdoctoral fellow at the university’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, according to his bio on the school’s website.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said in a statement that President Trump’s attempts to silence dissent by deporting people based on political viewpoints is a clear attempt. “That is patently unconstitutional.”
This was done “… to retaliate against and punish noncitizens like Mr. Suri solely for their family ties to those who may have either expressed criticism of U.S. foreign policy as it relates to Israel, or who are perceived to hold such critical views imputed to them due to familial relationship.”
A Georgetown University Professor Detained by the Trump Administration in a U.S. Immigration Court: The Case of Suri Heilman and Saad Khalil
A federal judge has blocked immigration officials from deporting a Georgetown University professor and postdoctoral scholar who was detained by the Trump administration earlier this week.
The judge said that Badar Khan is not able to be deported until the court issues a contrary order. Giles’ order stopped short of releasing Suri back to his Rosslyn, Va., home where his wife and three young children are still living. Lawyers are trying to get him released.
The agents quickly took him into custody in front of his wife, Heilman said. But there was never any real explanation to Suri or Saleh about where he was going, what was happening or why, Heilman says.
She was not charged with any crime. But in just under 72 hours, he has been moved from one immigration center to the next, eventually landing in Louisiana where he is currently held. Heilman said the speed and obscure nature of the arrest was troubling.
Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and and one of Khalil’s lawyers, said the use of this policy by the federal government is “largely unprecedented, save for ugly historical precedents, including the Red Scare and McCarthyism,” the Columbia Spectator reported.
After immigration agents detained Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil over his involvement in pro-Palestine protests on campus, President Donald Trump promised it was just the beginning. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has since arrested at least two more students who are in the country on visas — one of whom had recently sued the Trump administration on First Amendment grounds.
DHS did not respond to The Verge’s request for comment. There was no evidence to support the claims that she was spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media. She also said that a senior adviser to Hamas is the person who has close connections to Suri.
In a letter filed in federal court Friday, Taal’s attorneys said the Department of Justice contacted them Thursday night via email to inform them that “the government intended to serve Mr. Taal with a Notice to Appear” in immigration court and take him into ICE custody.
The attorneys “are not aware of any other instance in which the department has attempted to initiate service of an NTA through the Department of Justice in response to the non-citizen filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of presidential action,” Taal’s attorneys wrote.