Appeals court rejects Trump administration bid to re-detain Georgetown scholar

Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri can remain free while he fights his deportation, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Tuesday.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected the Trump administration’s request that Suri be returned to immigration detention while it seeks to deport him by a vote of 2-1.

Suri was arrested on 17 March by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside his home in Virginia in retaliation for constitutionally protected speech and association, and he spent eight weeks in detention, mostly in Texas. Upon his release in May, he returned home to his wife and three children in Virginia, where his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of his arrest is proceeding. 

“I am grateful for my freedom and for the time I have to spend with my family,” said Dr Suri. “I have faith that the American judiciary will protect my constitutional rights.”