An Indian national whose father-in-law is with Hamas has been taken into custody.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested and is seeking to deport an Indian national studying at Georgetown University, the latest in a series of arrests following through on President Donald Trump’s promise to find and deport “terrorist sympathizers.”
Badar Khan Suri, a foreign exchange student at the school, was arrested because he has been “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, said on social media platform X.
Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) March 20, 2025
Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas. The Secretary of State issued a… https://t.co/gU02gLAlX1
The Immigration and Nationality Act says that immigrants can be deported if the U.S. secretary of state determines that their presence or activities “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
According to the Hindustan Times, the father of Suri’s wife is a former Hamas deputy foreign minister. Maphaz Ahmad Yousef, Suri’s wife, told the outlet that “Hamas is a political party fighting for the cause of Palestine, not a terrorist organization.”
A profile of Yousef on the Georgetown University website says she has worked with the foreign ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
Suri’s close connections to a senior adviser of Hamas prompted Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 15 to deem him deportable under the law, according to McLaughlin.
Suri’s social media posts include writing in 2023 after the Hamas incursion into Israel that by focusing on the incursion and not paying attention to events that have unfolded over the previous decades, “you accept occupation [of Gaza] and take away right to resist by all means.” He also brought up Bhagat Singh, an Indian who killed a British police officer and set off bombs in Delhi.
@khanumarfa the moment you start with October 7 and forget what is happening since 1948 you accept occupation & take away right to resist by all means which International laws gives to Palestinians. Your balancing is hypocritical. Was Bhagat Singh and others were terrorist. shame
— Badar Khan Suri (@BadarKhanSuri) October 10, 2023
Other posts that have since been deleted included writing that Israel was lying about babies being beheaded by Hamas and about rapes or mass killings allegedly carried out at a carnival by Hamas, Middle East Forum research associate Anna Stanley said.
“The Trump administration took decisive action in preventing the United States from becoming a haven for extremists hiding behind academic credentials,” Stanley said in a statement after Suri’s arrest. “The American people deserve universities free from terrorist sympathizers, and this deportation sends a strong message: those who support terror will find no sanctuary in our institutions.”
