Archive · 22 Sep 2026
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow scholar's detention
The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to review the release of Badar Khan Suri.
Suri is an Indian citizen and Georgetown University scholar who supports Palestinian rights.
Immigration authorities arrested him in March 2025.
He was held in Texas while deportation proceedings were pending.
A judge ordered him released in May.
The judge said Suri might prove that his arrest was punishment for protected speech.
An appeals court later agreed that the judge could hear his challenge.
The administration says immigration judges should handle the matter instead.
The Supreme Court may also consider a similar case involving Mahmoud Khalil.
The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the release of Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri.
Suri was arrested in March 2025 during a campaign targeting foreign nationals involved in pro-Palestinian campus activism.
A district judge ordered Suri released in May after finding he was likely to show his arrest retaliated against protected speech.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that a judge could hear a constitutional challenge to Suri’s detention.
The administration says the ruling could disrupt immigration enforcement, while Suri’s case raises due process and free speech concerns.
- Who
- The Trump administration, Badar Khan Suri, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Supreme Court are central to the case.
- What
- The administration asked the Supreme Court to review whether a lower-court judge could order Suri released while deportation proceedings were pending.
- When
- Suri was arrested in March 2025, released in May 2025, and the administration filed its Supreme Court petition on September 22, 2025.
- Where
- Suri was detained and brought to Texas; he had lived in Virginia and worked at Georgetown University.
- Why
- The administration says the lower-court ruling improperly interfered with immigration proceedings and could disrupt enforcement nationwide; Suri has argued that his detention violated his constitutional rights.
Trump administration
Suri’s legal position
Who should hear the challenge?
Trump administration
The administration argues that immigration courts should handle challenges connected to deportation proceedings and that the lower-court judge should not have intervened.
Suri’s legal position
Suri’s case maintains that a federal judge could review whether his detention was unconstitutional, even while immigration proceedings were pending.
Effect on immigration enforcement
Trump administration
Solicitor General D. John Sauer says the 4th Circuit ruling could give detainees a way to challenge deportations outside immigration court and disrupt enforcement nationwide.
Suri’s legal position
The lower court found that Suri was likely to succeed in showing that his arrest was retaliation for constitutionally protected speech.
Supreme Court review
Trump administration
The administration wants the Supreme Court to resolve the disagreement between federal appeals courts and review both Suri’s case and Mahmoud Khalil’s case.
Suri’s legal position
Suri’s lawyers had not immediately responded to a request for comment, while Khalil’s lawyers have said they plan to appeal their case.
- Detainee
- Badar Khan Suri, an Indian citizen and Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow
- Arrest
- March 2025 by immigration authorities
- Release
- Ordered in May 2025 by a district court judge
- Appeals ruling
- A 2-1 panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July 2025
- Government argument
- The administration says the ruling allows detainees to challenge deportations outside immigration court
- Constitutional claims
- Suri argued that his detention violated due process and free speech protections
- Related case
- The administration also urged review of Mahmoud Khalil’s case