Formerly detained Georgetown University postdoctoral researcher Badar Khan Suri is seeking relief from an immigration court’s November ruling that he is deportable, spurring renewed community support and fundraising efforts for his legal fees.

Student organizers held a benefit concert Feb. 8 that raised more than $4,000 for Khan Suri in addition to about $40,000 raised on a GoFundMe page that Khan Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh (GRD ’26), launched in late November. As Khan Suri’s legal team awaits a Feb. 27 hearing where an immigration court will hear and decide on his relief claims, other foreign scholars are also challenging federal deportation attempts in court on First Amendment grounds.

Khan Suri said he is grateful for community support as his case proceeds.

“I am deeply moved and humbled by the benefit concert and the broader fundraising efforts organized by students and members of the Georgetown community; these are acts of extraordinary generosity,” Khan Suri wrote to The Hoya. “Their kindness and solidarity mean more to me than I can adequately express.” 

Nick Hasbun (CAS ’28) — one of Khan Suri’s former students who performed in two bands at the concert — said taking Khan Suri’s class inspired him to begin organizing.

“His class was not only extremely fascinating and engaging, but he is also simply an astounding person,” Hasbun wrote to The Hoya. “I figured that we as a community and as a school with so much wealth have to find a way to support him in his legal fight to keep his visa.”

About 50 community members attended the concert, during which six student bands performed and organizers sold baked goods and clothing. Students also held bake sales in the Leavey Center throughout the week for additional fundraising.

Federal immigration officials detained Khan Suri on March 17, 2025, alleging he threatened U.S. foreign policy. The government released him May 14 following a federal judge’s ruling that his detainment unconstitutionally targeted him for protected speech and familial associations, violating the First Amendment. 

According to Nader Hashemi — director of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), the academic program that employs Khan Suri — Khan Suri’s legal fees may cost up to $100,000 this year as the case proceeds. The cost is in part because the application of the law used to originally detain Khan Suri and other foreign scholars is being challenged in court.

Khan Suri’s request for relief comes less than a month after an immigration judge ruled that the federal government cannot deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University student who was detained after writing a pro-Palestinian opinion article in her college newspaper. 

Marc Van Der Hout, one of the immigration lawyers representing Khan Suri, said the ruling in favor of Öztürk bodes well for Khan Suri’s case and that his legal team will cite the ruling to the immigration judge (IJ) as they seek relief.

“We will be raising that in his case,” Van Der Hout wrote to The Hoya.

“The IJ was and is obligated to allow development of the record and consider constitutional claims,” Van Der Hout added. 

In September, a different federal judge also ruled that the Trump administration unconstitutionally targeted noncitizens, including Öztürk and Khan Suri, for pro-Palestinian speech by detaining them and revoking their visas. 

Van Der Hout said that while Khan Suri is not a member of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the plaintiff in the September ruling, the decision will still support the legal team’s free speech claim. 

“He wasn’t a member so is not covered by that,” Van Der Hout wrote. “BUT the decision is still very helpful to his case as it found the retaliation we claim for 1st Amendment protected activities.” 

Khan Suri is currently a party in two separate cases. Parallel to his case in immigration court, his legal team is also challenging his original arrest and detention in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Virginia, in Suri v. Trump.

Khan Suri said that, as the government appeals his May release from detention in Suri v. Trump, an appeals court hearing is scheduled for March 17.

“This is because the government has appealed my release ordered by the district court. The appellate court will also decide the jurisdictional issue—specifically, whether the district court had jurisdiction over my case,” Khan Suri wrote. “If the appellate court determines that it did not, my release could be reversed and the government may detain me again. As a result, my status remains contingent—not only on the merits of my claims for relief in immigration court, but also on a separate court’s determination of whether another court had the authority to order my release in the first place.”

Hashemi said the uncertainty surrounding Khan Suri’s dual cases has forced Georgetown community members to put their lives on hold to rally behind Khan Suri. 

“We’re worried about other people getting picked up and deported,” Hashemi told The Hoya. “Everyone is busy with their teaching commitments, their research work, mentoring students, living their lives when something like this hits in terms of an arrest.”

“If there’s a new development where we have to raise a massive amount of money in a short time to file a legal application, what it does is it throws all of our lives up in the air because we have to stop what we’re doing in terms of our teaching, our research, our work with students and focus on this immediate task at hand,” Hashemi added.

Ian Crowley (CAS ’28), who hosted the benefit concert, said Khan Suri’s steep legal fees require the Georgetown community to come together in his support. 

“We’ve seen it hit very close to home here in the Georgetown community with Dr. Suri’s kidnapping, extra-judicial imprisonment, and thankfully his return,” Crowley told The Hoya. “But still, the fact that he faces litigation around whether he can be in this country over what is, frankly, just bullshit legal standing, and he’s forced to work out $70,000 in legal fees because the Trump administration doesn’t like what he said — it’s been a complete violation of his free speech.”

“But it’s great to see that the Georgetown community is out here and standing up for a member of our faculty, a member of our community,” Crowley added.

David Vogt (CAS ’28), a concert attendee, said the benefit concert showed the Georgetown community’s commitment to supporting one another amid federal actions impacting higher education.

“It shows that people still care,” Vogt told The Hoya. “I know there’s a lot of other stuff on the news right now, but I think it shows that there are still people who really want to stand up for our local community, here at Georgetown, and our professors and our faculty, and I think that’s actually really good.”

Hasbun said the severity of Khan Suri’s situation requires people to help his family however they can. 

“Especially in times like these, when you hear about the very evil things that this government is doing, you often tend to think to yourself, ‘How can we do something to help fix this?’” Hasbun said at the concert. “In this case, with Dr. Suri’s situation, there is something very tangible that we can do to help out, and that’s coming together, being in community, and, more importantly, raising money for his GoFundMe so that he can fight his case in court. So it’s beautiful to see everybody here.”

Hashemi said the federal government’s continued efforts to deport Khan Suri represent a dangerous moment in the country’s history.

“This is a moment, as a faculty member living in the United States, that I never thought that we would have to live through,” Hashemi said. “Universities and institutions in civil society, in Russia, in Egypt, in Saudi Arabia, in other authoritarian regimes — they have to live with this uncertainty and constant fears of the state imposing their will on society.” 

“The fact that it’s happening in the United States today tells us something about this dark moment in American history that effectively, we are passing through an authoritarian transition in this country from democracy to authoritarianism, where universities are subject to an incredible amount of scrutiny that shockingly feels like a nightmare,” Hashemi added.

Khan Suri said that while he is encouraged by the ruling in favor of Öztürk, the differing nature of the courts leaves discrepancies between hearings. 

“Seeing her granted relief by the Immigration court was an incredibly overwhelming and uplifting feeling,” Khan Suri wrote. “But I know all courts are different and they behave differently. If showing empathy for Palestinians enduring genocide comes at a cost, I consider it an honor to pay it. The court may decide as it wishes, but for me, my principles matter most.”

“In the 21st century, there must be no genocide,” Khan Suri added. “No child should be murdered. No innocent life should be taken. No crime should go unpunished. There is no room for hate, no tolerance for radicalism, no shelter for fascism. Let love guide us. Let freedom be our standard. Let courage be our tool. May god bless each one of us, and may God bless the USA.”

This article was updated to include comments from Badar Khan Suri.