WASHINGTON/PARIS: US President Donald Trump’s administration has detained an Indian man studying at Washington’s Georgetown University and is seeking to deport him after deeming him a harm to US foreign policy, the student’s lawyer said on Wednesday.

The US Department of Homeland Security accused Badar Khan Suri of ties to the Palestinian group Hamas and said he had spread Hamas propaganda and antisemitism on social media, according to a statement it shared with Fox News.

The DHS statement to Fox News, which was reposted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, did not cite evidence. It said Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Suri’s activities “rendered him deportable.”

Suri — who is living in the US on a student visa and is married to an American citizen — has been detained in Alexandria, Louisiana, and is awaiting a court date in immigration court, his lawyer said. Federal agents arrested him outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, on Monday night.

The case comes as Trump seeks to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s conflict in Gaza.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025