Son-in-law of senior Hamas official in US on student visa arrested by ICE at Georgetown

On Wednesday, ICE arrested Badar Khan Suri, an Indian student at Georgetown. The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News in a statement, "Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University 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. The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suri’s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(i)."

According to CBS, on March 15, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a determination that "Suri's activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable" under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Suri, an Indian national, was in the US on a student visa. In February, Middle East Forum research associate Anna Stanley revealed in an article for the Jewish News Syndicate, that Suri “actively spreads the [Hamas] terror group’s propaganda and promotes virulent antisemitism on social media.” Suri is married to Mapheze Ahmad Yousef Saleh, the daughter of Hamas leader Ahmed Yousef.

"The Middle East Forum think tank has uncovered that Saleh, the daughter of longtime Hamas leader Ahmed Yousef, is married to Georgetown post-doctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri. Even more troubling, Suri—who holds a position at Georgetown’s Alwaleed Center for Christian and Muslim Understanding, funded by Saudi tycoon Alwaleed bin Talal—has repeatedly endorsed Hamas terror and actively spreads its propaganda while claiming to specialize in 'peace processes in the Middle East,'" the outlet reported.

Suri has traveled through Syria and Iran as part of the “Asia to Gaza Solidarity Caravan,” an activist initiative organized in December 2010 to support Gaza under Hamas control.

Stanley added, “Unlike Georgetown University, which offered no acknowledgment or response to evidence of Suri’s Hamas links, the Trump administration took decisive action in preventing the United States from becoming a haven for extremists hiding behind academic credentials. The American people deserve universities free from terrorist sympathizers, and this deportation sends a strong message: those who support terror will find no sanctuary in our institutions.”

A Georgetown University spokesperson claimed Suri obtained his visa in order "to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan," and told CBS News, "We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention. We support our community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation, and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial, or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly."

Suri is currently being held at an ICE detention facility at Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana. The arrest and deportation proceedings against Suri appear to be part of the Trump administration’s initiative to identify and remove foreign nationals responsible for antisemitic and pro-terror activities on college campuses.