The administration of United States President Donald Trump has requested the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision to release Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University scholar who advocated for Palestinian rights and opposed Israel’s actions in Gaza. Suri was released last year after a judge determined that his detention violated his due process and free speech rights under the US Constitution. On Monday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to consider whether federal immigration law prevented the lower-court judge from ordering Suri’s release.
Suri, an Indian citizen, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, in March 2025 during the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign nationals and visa holders involved in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses. Critics at the time alleged that the administration targeted Suri due to his familial ties, as his wife is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
After his detention, Suri was transferred to Texas and released in May 2025 by a district court judge, who ruled that Suri was likely to succeed in proving that his arrest was retaliatory for his constitutionally protected speech. The Trump administration contends that the judge should not have intervened in the case.
In July, the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision that a lower-court judge could hear challenges to allegedly unconstitutional detentions, even if related to ongoing deportation proceedings. Solicitor General D John Sauer argued that this ruling jeopardized nationwide immigration enforcement by allowing detainees to bypass immigration courts. Sauer stated, "That is all practically disastrous."
He also referenced a different appeals court ruling earlier this year that contradicted the Fourth Circuit’s decision, which had overturned a ruling that freed pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who spent over 100 days in ICE detention before being released on bail in June last year. In January, the Third US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that lower federal district courts did not have jurisdiction to hear immigration or detention challenges while removal proceedings were active, although this order did not affect the First Amendment arguments in Khalil’s case.