Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri to be released from ICE detention

A federal judge in Virginia on Wednesday ordered the release of Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri on bail. Suri was taken away by masked men outside his home on 17 March in a suburb of Washington, DC.

The men, who turned out to be federal agents, said his visa was revoked on the orders of the Secretary of State Marco Rubio for “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media".

Suri is married to a Palestinian American whose father once advised the Hamas political bureau. 

He has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention since, having been transferred to a facility in Texas that he has described as overcrowded and unsanitary. 

The government's case - an attempt to deport him for his political views - will continue while Suri is reunited with his family. 

The move follows the release of two other students who were detained for their pro-Palestinian views in different parts of the country.