Alexandria, VA – “I’ll release him now. Free him now.”
These words rang outside a federal courthouse near Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
Dozens of activists gathered to show solidarity with Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar Khan Suri. He was arrested in March as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to punish and deport non-citizens who were accused of promoting “anti-Semitism” and “illegal protests” on university campuses.
Speaking to the crowd in Alexandria, Virginia, Mafeze Sale, Palestinian-American wife of Khan Sri, highlighted the impact of detention on three children. She said they just wanted to get their father back.
“Why is this happening to him? Why is the Trump administration persecuting him?” Sale said. “Because he fell in love and married a Palestinian, because he dared to express his belief in non-violence and bravely spoke to the genocide of my people in Gaza.”
Prior to his detention, Khan Sri was in the United States on an academic visa, conducting research into peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, the US government accused Indian citizen Khan Suri of violating the terms of his visa by “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media.” No evidence for either claim is provided.
Outside court on Thursday, Alexandrian activist Amanda Eisenhall said the Khan Suri case represents a crossroads of issues that include freedom of speech, constitutional rights and the “tyranny” of the US immigration system.
“We also have Palestine,” Eisenhall told Al Jazeera. “I want to make sure it’s always part of the conversation. Dr. Khan Sri is a political prisoner for his association, for marriage to someone Palestinian. We are now a country with political prisoners and we need to be ready to fight it.”
As legal hearings unfolded, outside activists advocated Khan Suri’s freedom and Palestinian rights under the statue of a blindfolded woman, symbolizing unbiased justice.
One protester held up the sign that “The mob bosses will disappear.” Another placard declared “Due Process Now.”
Virginia client, Texas
In the court, lawyers on both sides questioned the geographical disparity between where the hearing is taking place and where it is currently being held.
After being arrested in Virginia, immigration officers quickly moved Karn Suri from his local detention center to Louisiana and then Texas.
Critics say the government is moving individuals who are planning to be deported to a remote nation, moving them away from their families and legal teams. They also point out that states like Louisiana and Texas are likely to have conservative courts.
On Thursday, Khan Suri’s lawyers argued that the scholars would be returned to his hometown of Virginia.
“We hope that the courts are looking through these illegal government tactics to maintain Dr. Sri’s case here in Virginia and ordering that he be released or at least he will be returned to Virginia, close to his legal counsel and his family.”
However, the Trump administration made a call for opposition, pushing for the court to be moved to Texas.
Ultimately, Judge Patricia Toliver Giles asked for an answer as to why Kahn Sri moved quickly from Virginia. She responded to government lawyers 24 hours a day.
Georgetown academic lawyers have reason to be optimistic about the outcome. The federal district court has argued jurisdiction in similar cases, and on Wednesday a Vermont judge ordered the release of Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi.
“That’s not the America we want to be.”
Since Trump began his second term in January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suggested that he has revoked visas for hundreds of foreign students who have engaged in protests or criticism of Israel.
However, the push for deporting Khan Suri is one of the most prominent cases.
To justify eliminating Khan Sri and other student activists, Rubio cited the Cold War era law, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. One rarely used clause allows the Secretary of State to deport non-citizens who have “potentially serious adverse consequences” to the United States.
The Trump administration has not indicted Khan Suri for any crimes. However, officials accused him of “connecting with known or suspicious terrorists,” or his stepfather.
“Suri married the daughter of a senior adviser to the Hama Stellarist Group (sic),” the Department of Homeland Security said in a social media post.
However, supporters of Khan Suri point out that his father-in-law Ahmed Yousef has had no connection with Hamas for many years and has criticized the group on multiple occasions.
Youssef served more than a decade ago as an advisor to former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Hannie, Hamas leader who was killed in Israel in Iran last year.
Anyway, legal experts say family relations are not a criminal offence or basis for deportation.
Hassan Ahmad, a Virginia lawyer representing Khan Suri, said the allegations about the Georgetown academic’s stepfather set up a case separate from the push to deport other pro-Palestinian students.
“We’re not just talking about the First Amendment, freedom of speech, we’re talking about constitutional freedom of association,” Ahmad said.
“And that distinguishes Dr. Suri’s case, here he is chasing him based on someone (about) but only on his association, retweeting, forwarding, liked or talking to him.
Eden Heilman, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Virginia, who has helped represent Khan Suri, said deporting someone based on personal connections was also a “very scary premise.”
“If that’s what the government does and they claim they’re doing it with Dr. Sri, we’re in an unprecedented time regarding constitutional threats,” Heilman told reporters Thursday.
Furthermore, social media accounts that appear to belong to Khan Suri do not show direct support for hostility towards Hamas or the Jews. Instead, scholars use his social media presence to condemn Israeli atrocities in Gaza, highlighting obvious war crimes against the Palestinians.
“Israel is bombing Gaza hospitals to change habitable land to encourage Palestinians in Gaza to think about moving to the Sinai Desert,” Khan Sri wrote in October 2023.
In recent months, Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Gaza plans to earn money for rights advocates to cleanse their people.
Status of “Kafkaesque”
Don Bayer, a Democrat who represents the Northern Virginia district where Khan Suri lived, showed support in attendance at the hearing Thursday.
“I will do everything I can to help Dr. Khan (Suri) and his family, and I encourage each of us to do everything we can to tell these stories and to help educate the American people about our rights about what is happening with this threat to our constitution,” Bayer said in a video message Thursday.
“It’s the Cafcask that anyone can be seduced without any reason, without approval, without logic, without accusation, without accusation, without a Texas prison and without knowing what will happen next.”
Anita Martineau, a resident of northern Virginia, said the people of Al Jazeera should not be “invited” for their speech. She attends the protest outside the hearing and holds a poster that reads, “Run Khan Suri now.”
“It’s absolutely unconstitutional and needs to be stopped,” Martineau said. “Americans and everyone in this country, whether they’re citizens or residents, they all need to stand up. We need to speak in one voice.”
Melissa Petissa, an activist with the Alexandrian group for Palestinian Human Rights, called for Khan Suri to be “released soon.” She added that Trump is targeting students as a distraction tactic from the escalating massacre in Gaza.
“We’re here and we want to show solidarity with Dr. Sri,” Petisa told Al Jazeera. “We are here as we show solidarity with Palestine.”