A Georgetown University researcher was detained by immigration authorities earlier this week.
A Georgetown University researcher was detained by immigration authorities earlier this week amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on activists across college campuses, according to court records and the Department of Homeland Security, which alleged he has «close connections» to a Hamas official.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national, is a postdoctoral associate who was studying and teaching at Georgetown on a student visa. Attorneys for Suri filed a writ of habeas corpus and accompanying complaint challenging his detention in federal court in Virginia on Tuesday, one day after his arrest. CBS News obtained the documents on Thursday.
The complaint said Suri was surrounded and detained by masked DHS agents as he was returning to his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, where he lives with his wife Mapheze Saleh and their three children, after breaking his fast for Ramadan on March 17.
«The agents identified themselves as members of the Department of Homeland Security and stated that the government had revoked his visa», the complaint said, adding that «the agents had face coverings and Ms. Saleh could only see their eyes.»
Roughly two hours after his arrest, Suri called his wife to let her know that he was being sent to a detention center in Farmville, Virginia, his attorneys said. They added that they believe he is likely to be moved to a detention facility in Los Fresnos, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border. As of Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s online detainee locator showed Suri was being held at a detention facility in Louisiana.
