A U.S. federal judge has put a stay on the deportation of Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, which was due to happen after a detention over alleged ties to Hamas.
Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia told a different story Thursday: That Suri “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court orders otherwise.” This move is made following an emergency motion filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to stop his removal.
Suri, a postdoctoral peacebuilding fellow on Iraq and Afghanistan, was taken into custody at his home in Arlington, Virginia, earlier this week, accused of promoting Hamas propaganda and befriending a senior advisory to Hamas – charges which his lawyers call “reckless” and “politically motivated”. 
Among them is Sophia Gregg, ACLU attorney, who criticized the detention as an effort to silence dissent. ‘Ripping someone off the streets of their home and locking them down for their political views is unconstitutional,’ she said.
Georgetown University claimed worries over Suri, saying, “He’s here as a student, legally, and to our certain keep an eye on there hasn’t been anything inappropriate that he’s done.”
The case has raised concerns about academic freedom under President Donald Trump’s administration, which has come under international fire for ejecting a French scientist over alleged “hateful” statements about U.S. policy.
Suri is kept in an immigration detention facility in Louisiana while the case is ongoing.
