A Georgetown University researcher was seized by federal agents outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, earlier this week, despite having no criminal record or formal charges against him. His lawyer has described the arrest as “just another example of our government abducting people.”
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown, was taken into custody by masked agents on Monday night, according to a report by Politico. Suri, who was in the U.S. on a student visa, was informed by the Department of Homeland Security that his visa was being revoked.
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Legal filings on Suri’s behalf indicate that he has been placed in deportation proceedings under a rarely used immigration enforcement provision. This provision grants the Secretary of State the authority to expel noncitizens deemed a threat to U.S. foreign policy.
His attorney, Hassan Ahmad, argues that Suri was unfairly targeted due to his wife’s Palestinian heritage. “A 2018 article about the couple published in the Hindustan Times, an Indian newspaper, said Saleh’s father, Ahmed Yousef, served as a ‘senior political adviser to the Hamas leadership,'” the report noted.
Ahmad further contends that authorities believe Suri and his wife oppose U.S. support for Israel. “We’re trying to speak with him. That hasn’t happened yet,” Ahmad told reporters. “This is just another example of our government abducting people the same way they abducted Khalil.”
The case comes amid an intensified crackdown on individuals suspected of sympathizing with organizations deemed hostile to U.S. interests. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated his administration’s intent to target what he calls “terrorist sympathizers.”
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In recent public statements, including posts on his social media platform, Trump vowed to “find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again.” His rhetoric has coincided with several high-profile arrests, including that of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident involved in last year’s protests at Columbia University.
Suri’s detention has sparked concerns among civil liberties advocates, who warn that such actions could set a dangerous precedent for academic freedom and due process. The Department of Homeland Security has yet to provide further details regarding Suri’s case or the specific reasons for his visa revocation.
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