US To Deport Indian Scholar At Georgetown University After He Detained Over ‘Hamas Ties’

Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests: Just days after Columbia University's Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan was self-deported after her visa was revoked by the Trump administration, another Indian scholar at the Georgetown University Badar Khan Suri has been designated to be deported.

Study in US: Badar Khan Suri, an Indian scholar at Georgetown University, has been detained by the immigration authorities in the US. He has been accused of allegedly supporting the Hamas during the pro-Palestine protests.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and several other countries.

US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on X platform, "Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media. Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas. The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025, that Suri’s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(i)."

In 2020, Suri completed his PhD at the Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia. His PhD was in Peace and Conflict Studies.

US To Deport Badar Khan Suri

He has been put in deportation proceedings under the new law invoked last week by the Trump administration. These are rarely used provisions of immigration law. According to news agency Reuter, he is currently in Alexandria, Louisiana where he awaits his appearance in the immigration court.

Badar Khan Suri is in the US on a student visa and he has been married to Mapheze Saleh whose father Ahmed Yousef is reportedly a senior political advisor to Hamas. They both met in Gaza in 2011, got married in 2014, and then Maphaz moved to Delhi to earn a master’s degree in conflict analysis and peace-building from the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace & Conflict Resolution at Jamia Millia.

Georgetown University spokesperson said, "We support our community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly."

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