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NDTV
28-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
How Badar Khan Suri Parented His Children From Immigration Detention Centre
Badar Khan Suri, the Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar, who had been arrested by immigration officers and faced deportation, had been in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months. He was arrested on the charges of "actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media." Khan Suri "has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in March on X. He explained how he helped manage his 5-year-old sons to get to terms with his absence. He credited his wife, Maphaz Ahmad Yousef, and called her a "blessing", since she was the support system for their children. "For my younger twins, I created a story they could hold on to: I told them I was traveling and had gotten lost somewhere in the clouds, trying to find my way back home," Khan Suri said in an email to NBC News. He said he took efforts to parent his three children "with love, creativity and resilience" from afar, while at detention. It has been a month now since his release from the ICE facility in Texas, after a judge ruled that his detention violated the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to due process. "For my family also, I feel the power dynamic changed. I am no more the provider or protector I once was," he said. "But I have survivor's clarity, as I saw the injustice. I am rebuilding my journey with meaning and truth." He also reflected how parenting from detention was a "heartbreaking" experience but it "kept him going". He has now returned to his regular parenting days, bringing his kids to the bus stop, and said that he has earned the privilege of being identified as the favourite parent in the household. "Even the twins say 'Baba' when I ask who they love more," he joked. "Before, it was always a clear 'Mama.'" He described how the first week in custody was a "nightmare". "That night, my wife was only able to bring back my belongings. My elder son only saw my bag returning home and not me," he said of the night of his arrest. "I was sad for my children, who had lost their father, their security cover, their ease in life." He told how his children kept aside food for him, expecting him to show up any moment. "They would draw pictures for me, and even save cupcakes or slices of pizza for me as if I might come back at any moment - they refused to let anyone else touch my share." Although his younger sons felt comforted by the stories of him travelling through skies, his 9-year-old older son understood more and had become more withdrawn. "I tried to bring humour into our conversations when I could," he said. "I'd tell him I had a PlayStation 4, a basketball court and a soccer field where I was, and he would laugh and ask questions about them." Suri was not even provided a bed at the detention centre, and used to sleep in the TV room where the television played from 5am to 2am, according to the petition. He also received halal food only after 5 days. "On April 2, officers came and told him that he had complained through his lawyer about his religious accommodations and asked him for more details," the petition said. "After Dr. Khan Suri reaffirmed his needs, he was given a prayer mat, a Quran, and provided a space on a bed in the dorm, outside of the TV room." He was classified as "requiring high security" and had to wear a bright-red uniform. He was told he fell under the category of "with a known criminal group". "Due to his classification and security protocols at the facility, Dr. Khan Suri is only permitted two hours per week of recreation," the petition said. To cope with the difficult conditions at the detention centre, he said, "I would write about them, I would think about them - like when their school bus would come, when would it return, what they do during the day, what they were drawing," he said. "When I saw drawings by kids of other detainees, I felt the love for my children." On the morning of his release, he said, "When they saw me, all three were shouting with joy, hugging and kissing me," he said. "For the twins, I had finally come back from the 'clouds.'"
NBC News
28-06-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
How Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri parented his three kids while in ICE detention
For months while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, Badar Khan Suri, the Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar who was targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, said he spun a tale for his 5-year-old sons to help them cope with his absence. 'For my younger twins, I created a story they could hold on to: I told them I was traveling and had gotten lost somewhere in the clouds, trying to find my way back home,' Khan Suri said in an email to NBC News. It was one of the ways, Khan Suri said, that he attempted to continue to parent his three children 'with love, creativity and resilience' from detention. Now, just over a month since his release from an ICE facility in Texas, Khan Suri reflected on his experience with family separation, one that he said took a significant toll on his wife and children. Khan Suri credits his wife, Maphaz Ahmad Yousef, with being a critical support system for their children, calling her a 'blessing.' However, he's still processing the pain of separation, he said. 'For my family also, I feel the power dynamic changed. I am no more the provider or protector I once was,' he said. 'But I have survivor's clarity, as I saw the injustice. I am rebuilding my journey with meaning and truth.' Parenting from detention, he said, 'was one of the most heartbreaking parts of my experience — but also the one that kept me going.' These days, Khan Suri — who was released last month after a judge ruled that his detention violated the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fifth Amendment right to due process — said his children have been enjoying life with both their parents at home. He said he has returned to some quintessential dad duties including bringing his kids to the bus stop, and he's earned the privilege of being identified as the favorite parent in the household. 'Even the twins say 'Baba' when I ask who they love more,' he joked. 'Before, it was always a clear 'Mama.'' But three months ago, Khan Suri was pulled away from his family when he was arrested outside his Arlington, Virginia, home and accused by the Department of Homeland Security of 'actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.' He was never formally charged with a crime. Khan Suri 'has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas,' DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in March on X. His attorney Hassan Ahmad has repeatedly denied that he ever made pro-Hamas or antisemitic statements. Khan Suri's father-in-law, Ahmed Yousef, was an adviser to a now-deceased Hamas leader. Yousef said he left his position more than a decade ago and he has since become a critic of Hamas. Khan Suri described the first week in ICE custody as a 'nightmare.' 'That night, my wife was only able to bring back my belongings. My elder son only saw my bag returning home and not me,' he said of the night of his arrest. 'I was sad for my children, who had lost their father, their security cover, their ease in life.' He had been moved across multiple facilities and three states, finally landing in Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. However, as Khan Suri's detention stretched on, he said, he aimed to maintain some semblance of lightness for his family. During their occasional phone calls home, Khan Suri said he made sure his youngest children absorbed his tall tale about the clouds. 'When I first had the chance to speak with them, I repeated that same story,' he said. 'They would draw pictures for me, and even save cupcakes or slices of pizza for me as if I might come back at any moment — they refused to let anyone else touch my share.' While his youngest sons believed he had been journeying through the skies, Khan Suri said his oldest child had picked up on bits and pieces of his situation. And while at the facility, the father said, he had attempted to paint a more positive picture of the conditions he was living in, particularly as his 9-year-old became more withdrawn. 'I tried to bring humor into our conversations when I could,' he said. 'I'd tell him I had a PlayStation 4, a basketball court and a soccer field where I was, and he would laugh and ask questions about them.' According to Khan Suri's habeas petition, he wasn't assigned a bed in a dorm when he first arrived at the facility. Instead, he was placed in the detention's 'TV room,' where the television runs every day from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m., according to the petition. Khan Suri had also requested religious accommodations and only received halal food after five days, the documents said. 'On April 2, officers came and told him that he had complained through his lawyer about his religious accommodations and asked him for more details,' the petition said. 'After Dr. Khan Suri reaffirmed his needs, he was given a prayer mat, a Quran, and provided a space on a bed in the dorm, outside of the TV room.' He was also issued a bright-red uniform, usually reserved for individuals classified as requiring high security due to their criminal history, the petition said. When he inquired about the uniform, Khan Suri was told that he fell under the category due to his association 'with a known criminal group — presumably based on Respondents' unfounded claims of his connections to Hamas,' the petition said. 'Due to his classification and security protocols at the facility, Dr. Khan Suri is only permitted two hours per week of recreation,' the petition said. Khan Suri said he kept his children front of mind in order to cope with the circumstances, as well. 'I would write about them, I would think about them — like when their school bus would come, when would it return, what they do during the day, what they were drawing,' he said. 'When I saw drawings by kids of other detainees, I felt the love for my children.' After he was released following the judge's ruling that the government had failed to provide evidence that Khan Suri was a flight risk or a danger to the community, he said the reunion with his children was joyful. 'In the morning, I woke up before them. When they saw me, all three were shouting with joy, hugging and kissing me,' he said. 'For the twins, I had finally come back from the 'clouds.''
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgetown scholar says detention was ‘mockery of rule of law'
A Georgetown University scholar detained in March by the Trump administration said his detainment served as a 'mockery' of the rule of law. Badar Khan Suri, 41, was released on bond last week after a federal judge determined he should not be removed from the country until the court can consider his legal challenge. The postdoctoral student described his first week detained in Louisiana in an interview with The Associated Press. 'Same terror. Same fear. Same uncertainty. Same mockery of rule of law. Same mockery of due process,' Khan Suri said. 'I was going more and more deeper, reaching to my abyss. And I was discovering that the abyss also has more and more depth.' The Department of Homeland Security accused Khan Suri of having ties to Hamas through his father-in-law, Ahmed Yousef, who worked for the Hamas-backed government in Gaza in the early 2000s. However, Khan Suri's attorneys said he barely has contact with the relative, adding that their client has not spoken out in support of the terrorist group. 'I don't support Hamas. I support Palestine. I support Palestinians. And it is so deceiving for some people who just publish canards … They will just replace Palestine with Hamas,' he told the AP while declining to speak about his father-in-law. As a result of the allegations, Khan Suri has been separated from his son and confined in a facility where he has to use the bathroom in front of a camera monitor. He is one of multiple foreign students whom the Trump administration has sought to remove or detain regarding statements tied to the war in Gaza. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Georgetown scholar from India recalls terror and ‘mockery of due process' in immigration jail
ARLINGTON, Va. : One of the lowest moments of Badar Khan Suri's two months in federal custody was being crammed onto an airplane with hundreds of other shackled prisoners. The Trump administration was trying to deport the Georgetown University scholar over statements he made against Israel's war in Gaza. The guards wouldn't say where they were headed, but the Indian national was convinced it was out of the United States. Then Khan Suri had to use the plane's bathroom. He said the guards refused to unshackle his wrists. 'They said, 'No, you have to use it like this or do it in your trousers,'' Khan Suri recalled of the trip, taking him to a Louisiana detention center. 'They were behaving as if we were animals.' Khan Suri, 41, was released on bond last week as his lawsuit against the US's deportation case continues. In an interview with The Associated Press, he spoke Thursday of a cramped cell, crowded with other detainees, where he waited anxiously, fearful about what would happen next. He also addressed the Trump administration's accusations that he spread 'Hamas propaganda.' Khan Suri said he only spoke in support of Palestinians, who are going through an 'unprecedented, livestreamed genocide.' 'I don't support Hamas,' he said. 'I support Palestine. I support Palestinians. And it is so deceiving for some people who just publish canards ... They will just replace Palestine with Hamas.' Yet, because of his comments, he said US authorities treated him as if he had committed a high-level crime. Fellow inmates said his red uniform was reserved for the most dangerous offenders. 'I said, 'No, I'm just a university teacher. I did nothing,' Khan Suri recalled. Still, there were rays of hope. He said more than a hundred people from the Georgetown community wrote letters on his behalf to the federal judge overseeing his case, including some who are Jewish. A crowd also greeted him when he arrived back in the Washington, D.C., area. 'Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims — everyone together,' said Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow who studies religion, peace and violence. 'That is the reality I want to live with. That's the reality I want to die for. Those people together.'
23-05-2025
- Politics
Georgetown scholar recalls terror and 'mockery of due process' in immigration jail
ARLINGTON, Va. -- One of the lowest moments of Badar Khan Suri's two months in federal custody was being crammed onto an airplane with hundreds of other shackled prisoners. The Trump administration was trying to deport the Georgetown University scholar over statements he made against Israel's war in Gaza. The guards wouldn't say where they were headed, but the Indian national was convinced it was out of the United States. Then Khan Suri had to use the plane's bathroom. He said the guards refused to unshackle his wrists. 'They said, 'No, you have to use it like this or do it in your trousers,'' Khan Suri recalled of the trip, taking him to a Louisiana detention center. 'They were behaving as if we were animals.' Khan Suri, 41, was released on bond last week as his lawsuit against the U.S.'s deportation case continues. In an interview with The Associated Press, he spoke Thursday of a cramped cell, crowded with other detainees, where he waited anxiously, fearful about what would happen next. He also addressed the Trump administration's accusations that he spread 'Hamas propaganda.' Khan Suri said he only spoke in support of Palestinians, who are going through an 'unprecedented, livestreamed genocide.' 'I don't support Hamas,' he said. 'I support Palestine. I support Palestinians. And it is so deceiving for some people who just publish canards ... They will just replace Palestine with Hamas.' Yet, because of his comments, he said U.S. authorities treated him as if he had committed a high-level crime. Fellow inmates said his red uniform was reserved for the most dangerous offenders. 'I said, 'No, I'm just a university teacher. I did nothing,' Khan Suri recalled. Still, there were rays of hope. He said more than a hundred people from the Georgetown community wrote letters on his behalf to the federal judge overseeing his case, including some who are Jewish. A crowd also greeted him when he arrived back in the Washington, D.C., area. 'Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims — everyone together,' said Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow who studies religion, peace and violence. 'That is the reality I want to live with. That's the reality I want to die for. Those people together.' U.S. Immigration authorities have detained international college students from across the country — many of whom participated in campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war — since the early days of Trump's second administration. The administration has said it revoked Khan Suri's visa because he was 'spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media," while also citing his connections to 'a senior advisor to Hamas,' which court records indicate is his wife Mapheze Saleh's father. Saleh is a Palestinian American whose father worked with the Hamas-backed Gazan government in the early 2000s, but before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Khan Suri's attorneys have said. They also said he barely knew his father-in-law, Ahmed Yousef. Khan Suri's attorneys said he wouldn't comment on Yousef during Thursday's interview, which mostly covered his arrest and time in custody. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Khan Suri's statements. Khan Suri said he was arrested just after he taught his weekly class on minority rights and the majority. Masked police in plain clothes pulled up in an unmarked car outside his suburban Washington home. They showed no documents, he said. Other than saying his visa was being revoked, they refused to explain the reason for his arrest, which he described it as a 'kidnapping." 'This is not some authoritarian regime,' Khan Suri said. 'I was not in Russia or North Korea. I was in the best place in the world. So, I was shocked.' As police whisked him away, Khan Suri realized they wanted to deport him. The 'dehumanizing procedures' came next: A finger scan, a DNA cotton swab and chains binding his wrists, waist and ankles, he said. They also said he could talk to his wife at a detention center in Virginia, but 'that never happened." He said he slept on a floor without a blanket and used a toilet monitored by a camera. The next day, he said he and other detainees were placed in a van, which soon rolled up to an airplane. 'I asked them where I am going now? Nobody would reply anything,' Khan Suri said. 'They just pushed us in.' He said the bathroom situation did not get better at a federal detention center in Louisiana, where Khan Suri was taken next. It lacked a privacy barrier and was also watched by a camera. He was finally able to call his wife, but he said she couldn't hear him. Khan Suri said he was 'extremely terrified,' thinking that someone was making his family not reply. He was not able to speak to a lawyer, while fellow inmates said everyone there is deported within three days, Khan Suri said. 'I was crying from inside, 'How can this be happening?" he said. 'A few hours back, I was in Georgetown teaching my students, talking about peace and conflict analysis.' Khan Suri said his first seven or eight days of captivity were the same: 'Same terror. Same fear. Same uncertainty. Same mockery of rule of law. Same mockery of due process.' 'I was going more and more deeper, reaching to my abyss,' he added. 'And I was discovering that the abyss also has more and more depth.' But he was still praying five times a day, uncertain which direction Mecca was. 'I was very strong like that, that God will help me. American Constitution will help me. American people will help me,' he said. Afterward, Khan Suri was transferred to a detention facility in Texas, where he said he slept on the floor of a crowded cell for the first two weeks. Eventually, he got his own cot. And, finally, he was allowed to speak to his attorneys, which he said led to a change in treatment. Khan Suri, who is Muslim, soon received a Quran and then a prayer rug. As for the rug, he rolled it up like it was his young son. 'My eyes would become wet, and I would give that blanket a hug as my son so that this hug should reach him,' Khan Suri said. 'And when I came back, he told me the same, that he was hugging a pillow.'
