Feds detain Indian citizen for opposing U.S. foreign policy

A student at Georgetown has been detained and is awaiting his court date pending possible deportation, reports Politico.

Agents from Homeland Security arrested Badar Khan Suri, a graduate fellow from India, Monday night.

He is accused of acting against the foreign policy of the United States by supporting Hamas and spreading propaganda.

He has not been charged with a crime nor does he have a criminal record. The feds have not released any evidence against Suri.

Suri’s lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, told the New York Times the accusations against his client are “seemingly based on who his father-in-law was.”

Suri’s wife is Palestinian American. Her father is Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh whom Israel assassinated last year in Iran.

Yousef confirmed Suri is his son-in-law but said he was not involved in any “political activism,” with Hamas or any other group. Yousef told the Times he currently does not hold a senior position with Hamas and has publicly criticized the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.

Georgetown University released the following statement to CNN about Suri.

“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.”

The U.S. government says Suri is deportable because he violated the terms of his student visa.

Suri is at least the third student facing deportation for his political views.

Agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student who last year as a student led the student protests denouncing what they considered “the genocide” of Palestine by the Israelis. A second student at Columbia, Leqaa Kordia, has also been arrested for his political activities by the Trump administration.