In a harrowing account of his time inside Texas’s Prairieland Detention Center, Suri described feeling like “a sub-human,” chained and cut off from the outside world.
BY PC Bureau
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian academic and visiting scholar at Georgetown University, was released this week after enduring nearly two months of detention by U.S. immigration authorities—without facing any formal charges. Suri was arrested over alleged ties to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, a claim he denies and which the court found unsubstantiated.
In a scathing rebuke of the government’s actions, U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles ruled that Suri’s detention violated the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and ordered his immediate release. The judge allowed Suri to return to his family on personal recognizance.
Speaking to NBC News after his release from the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, Suri described his detention as dehumanizing and traumatic. “They made a sub-human out of me,” he said. “I was chained — my ankles, my wrist, my body. Everything was chained.”
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He added, “There was no charge, there was nothing. For the first seven, eight days, I even missed my shadow. It was Kafka-esque — where they were taking me, what they were doing to me.”
HAPPENING NOW: Dr. Badar Khan Suri was just released on bond after being held in ICE detention for two months. The Georgetown scholar from India was detained for his support of Palestine in a continuation of the Trump administration’s attack on free speech (Video: PYM Dallas) pic.twitter.com/PiIex3aXve
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) May 14, 2025
Suri was arrested by plainclothes federal agents outside his home in Arlington, Virginia. Initially held overnight in Virginia, he was later transferred to Texas via Louisiana due to space shortages—all without ever being informed of any charges or allowed due process.
The former Jamia Millia Islamia student holds a PhD in peace and conflict studies from India and had been teaching a course at Georgetown titled “Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia.” According to Georgetown’s website, he is a scholar in peace and conflict resolution.
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Suri said his greatest distress came from being separated from his children. “My eldest son is only nine, and my twins are five. He knew where I was. He was going through a rough time. My wife told me he was crying. He needs mental health support,” he said.
Suri’s wife is from Gaza, and U.S. officials accused him of spreading Hamas propaganda with linkage to terrorists.
The U.S. government has not filed any charges against Suri. His detention, treatment, and eventual release have raised serious questions about civil liberties, academic freedom, and the use of immigration enforcement tools in politically sensitive contexts.
Civil rights groups have condemned the incident as a violation of both constitutional and human rights. As of now, Georgetown University has not released an official statement on the case.
