Who is Badar Khan Suri and why is US seeking to deport the Indian researcher?

Badar Khan Suri was arrested by federal agents arrested outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, on Monday night

Updated on: Mar 20, 2025, 12:30:08 IST

By HT News Desk

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Badar Khan Suri, an Indian student studying at Washington's Georgetown University, is battling deportation proceedings after being deemed as “harmful” to US foreign policy by the Trump administration, his lawyer said.

Badar Khan Suri is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C (@ShelleyGldschmt/X)

The lawyer said Badar Khan Suri has been detained in Alexandria, Louisiana, and is awaiting a court date in immigration court. Federal agents arrested him outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, on Monday night.

Who is Badar Khan Suri?

Badar Khan Suri has secured a PhD in peace and conflict studies from an Indian university. He has been living in the US on a student visa. He is a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown's Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which is part of the university's School of Foreign Service.

The Indian man has been teaching a class at Georgetown University this semester on “Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia".

Suri is married to Mapheze Saleh, a US citizen. According to the Georgetown University website, Saleh is from Gaza and has written for Qatari government-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera and Palestinian media outlets. She has also worked with the ministry of foreign affairs in war-ravaged strip.

ALSO READ | Trump's crackdown on ‘antisemitism’

What are the charges against him?

Badar Khan Suri is accused of ties with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and spreading its propaganda on social media, Fox News reported on Thursday, citing a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

The statement reposted by White House deputy chief of Staff Stephen Miller on X did not cite evidence for its allegations against the Indian student.

The DHS statement read, “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).”

(With Reuters inputs)

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HT News Desk
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