CNN
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A Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow has been detained by the Department of Homeland Security, the university said Wednesday, as the Trump administration continues its immigration clampdown.
In a letter obtained by CNN, Georgetown University Interim President Robert Groves told its Board of Directors that Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national who was on a visa “to continue his doctoral research on peace building in Iraq and Afghanistan,” has been detained by DHS and his visa has been revoked.
“We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity and we have not received a reason for his detention,” the letter continued. In a statement to CNN, a university spokesperson said, “We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a Wednesday post on X that Suri was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media. Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.”
McLaughlin also said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a determination on Saturday that “Suri’s activities and presence in the United State rendered him deportable” under an obscure legal statute that gives the secretary of state authority to act if he or she believes a non-citizen would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.
CNN has reached out to the State Department and DHS for additional comment.
Hassan Ahmad, Suri’s attorney, told CNN that his client is in Louisiana awaiting his hearing in immigration court and that he spoke to him Wednesday night.
“I will say that seeing our government abduct and jail another innocent person is beyond contemptible,” Ahmad said in an email to CNN. “And if an accomplished scholar who focuses on conflict resolution is whom the government decides is bad for foreign policy, then perhaps the problem is with the government, not the scholar.”
Online court documents for Suri were not accessible as of Wednesday evening.
Suri’s detention comes as President Donald Trump continues to crack down on students who engage in pro-Palestinian protests, sending shockwaves across US universities and raising concerns about the protection of free speech.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist, was arrested earlier this month after the Trump administration accused Khalil – without providing evidence – of being a terrorist sympathizer and supporting Hamas. Khalil faces possible deportation until his case is heard.
According to Suri’s bio page on the university’s website, he is a fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown’s school of foreign service. He was teaching a class this spring on majoritarianism and minority rights in South Asia.
CNN’s Evan Perez contributed to this report.
