DHS detains Georgetown University graduate student, alleges close ties to Hamas, spread propaganda

U.S. immigration authorities have detained a Georgetown University graduate student from India, who also teaches at the school, for allegedly having close ties to Hamas and spreading the terrorist group's propaganda and "promoting antisemitism on social media.”

The detainee, Badar Khan Suri, was arrested Monday outside of his home in Arlington, Virginia, his attorney, Hassan Ahmad, said Wednesday. 

Ahmad said his client is in the U.S. on a student visa to teach at the school. He also said the authorities who arrested Suri said they were with the Department of Homeland Security and informed him that his visa had been revoked by the government.

"Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X. "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).

McLaughlin cited a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that "renders an alien deportable if the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe that their presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

Georgetown University, a private Jesuit college in Washington, D.C., said it wasn't aware of Suri doing anything wrong, according to NBC News.

Ahmad called the detainment "beyond contemptible." Suri is being held at the Alexandria Staging Facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, where he will be held until his immigration hearing.