The Department of Justice filed a petition with the Supreme Court requesting review of a lower-court ruling that freed Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University. Suri, an Indian citizen, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at his Virginia home in March 2025 during the Trump administration’s enforcement operations targeting foreign nationals and visa holders engaged in pro-Palestinian campus activism.
A federal district judge ordered Suri’s release in May 2025, determining that his detention likely violated constitutional protections for free speech and due process rights. The administration contended the judge lacked authority to intervene in immigration proceedings. The case has drawn scrutiny partly due to Suri’s family connections—his wife is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
In July, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges to detention, even in cases involving pending deportation proceedings. The Trump administration’s Solicitor General argued this ruling would undermine immigration enforcement nationwide by allowing detainees to circumvent immigration courts. He cited a conflicting decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals earlier in the year that had reached opposite conclusions regarding judicial jurisdiction in similar cases involving another pro-Palestinian activist from Columbia University.
The competing appellate rulings have created a split in how federal courts handle detention challenges during active removal proceedings, a disagreement the Supreme Court petition seeks to resolve.
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