Georgetown University graduate student Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow from India, was taken into custody this week and targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, claiming he was promoting Hamas propaganda and antisemitism on social media. His lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, denied these claims, stating that Suri never made such comments. A federal judge in Virginia ordered that Suri not be removed from the U.S. unless ordered by the court, blocking any deportation.
Suri has close family connections to a former Hamas advisor but has not been involved in political activism himself. The Trump administration is also attempting to deport two individuals involved in protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University under the guise of threatening foreign policy consequences for the U.S.
The ACLU and others have criticized the administration’s actions, calling it an attempt to punish people for expressing their constitutionally protected views. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the deportation attempts, stating that no one has a right to a student visa. President Trump, during his election campaign, condemned student protests against Israel’s military action in Gaza, and some Congressional Republicans criticized universities for what they considered antisemitic behavior at protests.
The administration also announced an antisemitism task force focused on college campuses and canceled around $400 million in federal grants to Columbia. Trump stated federal funding would stop for any college, school, or university that allows illegal protests. These actions have been met with backlash and accusations of abuse of power.
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