Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau
The Donald Trump administration detained an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow, Badar Khan Suri, over allegations of spreading antisemitism and having ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Fox News reported, citing the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A researcher at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Suri was arrested by federal agents outside his house in Virginia on Monday night after he was told that his visa was being revoked. Suri, who is married to an American citizen, is awaiting a date in the im
According to Suri’s plea seeking release, the Trump administration invoked a rarely-used section of immigration law that grants the Secretary of State the authority to deport non-citizens deemed a threat to the United States’ foreign policy.
As per the DHS statement, accessed by Fox News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was of the view that the Indian researcher’s activities “rendered him deportable.”
Incidentally, the same provision was used to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and a green card holder, who had allegedly led pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.
Suri’s plea further states that he has no criminal record, and he was being targeted because of his wife’s Palestinian origins, reported Politico.
“If an accomplished scholar who focusses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar,” Suri’s lawyer told international news agency Reuters.
Suri was teaching “Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia” and had a PhD in peace and conflict studies from India, as per the Georgetown University website.
This incident comes just over a week after another Indian student, Ranjani Srinivasan — accused of antisemitism — self-deported by using the CBP Home App after escaping detention.
