US court affirms release of pro-Palestine scholar as legal battle continues

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, reported that a federal appeals court has refused to let US immigration authorities re-detain Badar Khan Suri, an Indian citizen and Georgetown University scholar who is fighting deportation over pro-Palestinian campus activism. In a 2-1 ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, based in Virginia, found that federal immigration law did not prevent a district judge from ordering Khan Suri’s release while his case proceeds.

Khan Suri was arrested in March 2025 during the Trump administration’s broader effort to detain and remove some foreign nationals involved in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. A lower court ordered him freed in May 2025. The appeals panel accepted his argument that he could challenge detention on constitutional grounds, including due process and free speech claims, and it also rejected the government’s effort to move the case from Virginia to Texas.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is helping represent Khan Suri, welcomed the decision and argued that constitutional speech protections apply regardless of citizenship. Al Jazeera said the ruling contrasts with two recent appellate decisions involving other pro-Palestinian activists, Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil, where courts found lower judges had overstepped by ordering release or bypassing immigration court processes.

The split among appeals courts increases the likelihood that the US Supreme Court will be asked to clarify when federal courts may intervene in immigration detention cases tied to alleged foreign policy concerns. The outcome could significantly affect non-citizens’ civil liberties and the government’s power to deport activists under a rarely used immigration-law provision.