Postdoctoral researcher Badar Khan Sri was accused of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism.”
US Indian postdoctoral researchers who opposed Israeli war in Gaza face deportation after being detained under President Donald Trump’s immigrant crackdown.
Badar Khan Sri, a postdoctoral researcher at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has been designated on social media for deportation to “spread Hamas propaganda and promote anti-Semitism,” Tricia McLaughlin, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said on Wednesday.
“Suri has close ties with known or suspicious terrorists who are senior advisers at Hamas,” McLaughlin said in X.
“The Secretary of State issued a resolution on March 15, 2025 that the activities and presence of pickpockets in the United States can be deported under INA sections 237(a)(4)(c)(i).”
McLaughlin did not provide evidence of her claims of the bond between Gaza-controlling groups Suri and Hamas.
The pickpockets that were currently studying at the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement Facility at Alwaredo Bin Tallar Center in Georgetown at Alexandria International Airport, Louisiana, are currently being held, according to ICE’s online detention locator.
Ahmad Hassan, a lawyer representing SURI, filed a petition for the release of the researcher in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Wednesday, according to a court filed online.
Hassan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Al Jazeera.
In a statement to Georgetown University spokesman Al Jazeera, Sri said she was given a student visa to carry out “Doctoral Studies on Peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“We do not recognize that he is involved in illegal activities and have not received any reason for his detention,” the spokesman said.
“Even when fundamental ideas are difficult, controversial or unfavourable, we support the right to free investigation, deliberation and debate of community members. We hope that the legal system will justly award this case.”
The X-account, which uses Suri’s name and Georgetown affiliation, includes many criticisms of Israel and a statement of support for the Palestinian cause.
In a June post, the account accused India of being a “genocide enabler” after the Palestine-run QUDS News Network posted footage intended to show the remains of Israeli missiles labeled “India Made.”
“From being Palestinian allies to genocide enablers. For those made in India, what a dishonest thing to supply missiles to Israel so that Palestinian children can be slaughtered,” Suri said.
“The change in the value of blood money. Shame.”
In an October 2023 post, Suri’s naming statement said that many Indians supported Israel because of “Muslim hatred” rather than “for Israeli love.”
Suri’s detention comes less than two weeks after Trump’s DHS was arrested by Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian protests.
On Wednesday, a federal court ruled that Halil, a permanent US resident, could advance the legal challenge to the Trump administration’s order to deport him.
Judge Jesse Furman ruled that Halil’s claim that his removal violates his freedom of speech and the rights of legitimate processes under the US Constitution justifies a “cautious review.”
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