Badar Khan Suri, Indian researcher, detained by US for ‘spreading Hamas propaganda’: Who is he?

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Washington's Georgetown University, was detained by US immigration authorities. US President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to deport him after deeming him a harm to US foreign policy, the student's lawyer told Reuters on Wednesday (March 19).

Suri was detained in Alexandria, Louisiana, and is awaiting a court date in immigration court, his lawyer said. Politico reported that “masked agents” arrested Badar Khan Suri from outside his home in Virginia Monday night.

Who is Badar Khan Suri?

Badar Khan Suri, who is living in the US on a student visa, is married to an American citizen.

He 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 DC.

Suri has been teaching a class this semester on "Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia" and has a PhD in peace and conflict studies from a university in India, according to the Georgetown University website.

A report in Politico said that Suri, who was studying and teaching on a student visa, has been “detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of opposing American foreign policy.”

Badar Khan Suri's family

Suri's wife, Mapheze Saleh, is a US citizen, said his lawyer. Saleh is from Gaza, according to the Georgetown University website, which said she has written for Al Jazeera and Palestinian media outlets and worked with the foreign ministry in Gaza.

Saleh has not been arrested, the lawyer added.

Why US wants to deport Badar Khan Suri?

According to Reuters, the US Department of Homeland Security accused Badar Khan Suri of having ties with Palestinian militant group Hamas. The department said Suri had spread Hamas propaganda and 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)," the Homeland Security department said, 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.”

This incident is the latest in the series of deportations driven by Donald Trump, seeking to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel's war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration arrested and sought to deport Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil over his participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Mahmoud Khalil is challenging his detention in court.

Donald Trump, without evidence, accused Mahmoud Khalil of supporting Hamas. His legal team said he has no links to Hamas.

(With inputs from Reuters)