A recent ruling by a federal judge has determined that a challenge to the constitutionality of an arrest involving a scholar from Georgetown University should be adjudicated in Virginia, rather than Texas. This decision opposes the Trump administration’s attempt to relocate the case. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles announced that she would entertain arguments regarding Badar Khan Suri’s relocation back to Virginia in mid-May. This comes while his deportation proceedings are ongoing in Texas, where he remains detained. His immigration case is scheduled for a June hearing.
In a memorandum released late Tuesday, the judge highlighted that by swiftly transferring Khan Suri from Virginia to Louisiana, and then to Texas shortly after his arrest, the government seemed intent on impeding his legal counsel’s efforts to contest his detention in the original jurisdiction. Khan Suri’s legal team approached the court immediately after his arrest by plain-clothed officers on March 17, outside his Arlington, Virginia apartment. Authorities had revoked his visa citing his social media activity and his wife’s ties to Gaza. Accusations included support for Hamas, labeled by the U.S. as a terrorist entity.
Before his lawyers could formally file a petition, Khan Suri had been airlifted to Louisiana without being able to notify his family or counsel, as reported by his attorneys. Days after his relocation to Louisiana, he was moved again to Texas. “Such atypical movements complicate any lawyer’s ability to coordinate legal actions with their client’s location,” Judge Giles wrote, identifying a trend in which students face deportation based on their expression.
Judge Giles pointed to the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University scholar and legal U.S. resident who was likewise detained, despite having no criminal history. Khalil was transferred swiftly through New York, New Jersey, Texas, and ultimately Louisiana following his arrest for participating in pro-Palestinian rallies. The judge also referenced Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University student who, after being arrested near Boston, was transferred across several states before ending up in a Louisiana detention facility. A federal appeals court recently mandated her return to Vermont.
The judge noted that although each scholar’s arrest occurred separately, the government consistently tried to shift them out of their jurisdictions to Louisiana or Texas. Unlike Virginia federal courts, those in Texas and western Louisiana tend to lean ideologically Republican, with appeals processed by the conservative 5th Circuit, which features a majority of judges appointed by Republican presidents.
Khan Suri arrived in the U.S. from India in 2022 on a J-1 visa. At Georgetown, he served as a visiting scholar and postdoctoral fellow, teaching about human rights in South Asia. He resides with his American-citizen wife and their three children. The government’s attorneys contended that the rapid transfer was due to overcrowding at a facility in Farmville, Virginia, coupled with limited bed space at a nearby Caroline County detention center.
However, Judge Giles noted that even upon his transfer, Khan Suri had been relegated to sleeping on a plastic cot in an overcrowded Texas detention center. Only later did he transition to a bed in a dormitory shared with approximately 50 others. Her observations concluded that the government’s claims are “inconsistent” with current conditions at the Prairieland Detention Center, where overcrowding remains an issue.