ACLU Statement in Support of Additional Funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In a major victory for Georgetown scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri and a huge blow to the Trump administration, today a federal court ruled that Dr. Suri’s habeas case alleging violations of his constitutional rights may remain in Virginia. Federal immigration agents illegally arrested Dr. Khan Suri on March 17, 2025 in retaliation for his constitutionally-protected speech in support of Palestinian rights and his family’s ties to Gaza, and then secretly transported him to Louisiana and then Texas in an effort to prevent him from accessing the courts. Since then, the Trump administration has detained Dr. Khan Suri in an ICE facility 1,500 miles away from his family, despite the fact that he is a lawful visa holder married to a U.S. citizen. His unlawful arrest and detention are an extreme and unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and part of the Trump administration’s escalation of attacks against students and Palestinian rights advocates. “In just four days, ICE transferred Dr. Khan Suri among five different ICE facilities across three states – while keeping his counsel in the dark about his whereabouts – and he’s not the only one,” said ACLU-VA Legal Director Eden Heilman. “The Trump administration tried to do the same thing to Mr. Khalil, Ms. Ozturk, and Mr. Mahdawi in order to find a court it believed would be friendlier to its unlawful detention of people advocating for Palestinian rights. We are pleased the court saw through the Trump administration’s attempts to manipulate the law, and we won’t stop fighting until Dr. Khan Suri is reunited with his family.” Dr. Khan Suri’s federal court challenge to the constitutionality of his arrest and detention will now proceed in Virginia, where his wife and three young children live. The federal court in Virginia will hear Dr. Khan Suri’s motions to compel his return to Virginia and to be released on bond at a hearing on May 14, 2025. Separately, in Dr. Khan Suri’s immigration case, the immigration court in Texas has scheduled a follow-up hearing for June 3, 2025. “In this important ruling, the court has rightfully rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to spirit Dr. Khan Suri away from Virginia to manufacture jurisdiction in whatever court it pleases,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “We will now continue fighting for Dr. Khan Suri’s freedom — his freedom to be with his family in Virginia, to continue his studies and work at Georgetown, and to stand in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.” In today’s ruling, the court found that the government’s “abnormal and rapid movement [of Dr. Khan Suri] across state lines” demanded an exception to the normal jurisdictional rules for the filing of habeas petitions by a person in government custody in order not to reward the government’s attempt at forum shopping. A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration last month when it found that the court can review former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil’s First Amendment claims challenging his arrest and detention. Another federal judge ruled against the Trump administration last week when it ordered the release of Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi on bond. And yet another federal judge ruled against the Trump administration when it ordered Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk to be transferred back to Vermont from Louisiana. Dr. Khan Suri is challenging his arrest and detention under the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act, and is represented in his federal lawsuit by the ACLU of Virginia, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the HMA Law Firm, and the Immigrants and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law. For more information, please see the case page.

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the government permission to appeal the issue of where Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil’s habeas case should play out. Back in April, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that it is the proper venue for Mr. Khalil’s habeas petition, as he was detained there when the petition was filed. The government argued that the venue should lie in Louisiana — because that is where the government shipped Mr. Khalil and is unlawfully detaining him — and sought to appeal the district court’s ruling. In today’s order, the Third Circuit denied that request. As a result, the case will continue to proceed in the District of New Jersey. The circuit court judges who issued the denial included Judges Stephanos Bibas, a Donald Trump appointee, Thomas Hardiman, a George W. Bush appointee, and Arianna Freeman, who was appointed by Joe Biden. “It is the fundamental job of the judiciary to stand up to this kind of government manipulation of our basic rights. We hope the court’s order sends a strong message to other courts around the country facing government attempts to shop for favorable jurisdictions by moving people detained on unconstitutional immigration charges around and making it difficult or impossible for their lawyers to know where to seek their immediate release,” said Brett Max Kaufman, a senior counsel with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. ​​On March 8, the Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) illegally arrested and detained Mr. Khalil in direct retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University. Shortly after, DHS transferred him 1,400 miles away to a Louisiana detention facility — ripping him away from his wife and legal counsel. While stuck in detention, he was forced to miss the birth of his first child. Mr. Khalil is represented by Dratel & Lewis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, CLEAR, Van Der Hout LLP, Washington Square Legal Services, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and the ACLU of New Jersey.

NEW YORK – The Second Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments tomorrow, May 6 at 10 a.m. on whether a federal judge’s order to transfer Rümeysa Öztürk to Vermont should be granted or further delayed. Ms. Öztürk, a former Fulbright scholar and current Tufts University Ph.D. student researching child development, has been held in a Louisiana detention center for over a month — all in retaliation for co-authoring an op-ed. On March 25, while on the phone with her mom, plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents surrounded her in Somerville, Massachusetts and arrested her. For nearly 24 hours, Ms. Öztürk’s attorney was unable to locate her as ICE quickly and quietly moved her to three separate locations in three different states — including Vermont — before sending her to Louisiana. In early April, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the challenge to ICE’s detention of Ms. Öztürk should continue in Vermont, not Louisiana. A Vermont judge later agreed that Ms. Öztürk’s federal case should continue in Vermont and ordered ICE to transfer her back to a Vermont facility by May 1. The government appealed on April 24. And last week, without ruling on the merits, the appeals court agreed to consider both the government’s request to keep her in Louisiana and her legal team’s opposition. Since she arrived in Louisiana, Ms. Öztürk has lived in a cramped room with poor ventilation and 23 other women for almost all hours of the day. In new filings in her federal court case in Vermont, she says she has suffered several asthma attacks that have “become progressively harder to recover from” while in detention. Whereas her attacks used to last between 5-15 minutes, they now can last up to 45 minutes. She is regularly exposed to asthma triggers including insect and rodent droppings, and is almost never exposed to fresh air. The new filings also describe difficulty receiving appropriate care in detention, including delays to receive medical care and dismissive comments from medical staff. She has suffered six weeks of a detention that is as harmful as it is unlawful. The Second Circuit will also hear arguments on Tuesday on the government’s motion to consolidate the cases of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, a move both students’ legal teams oppose. Ms. Öztürk is represented in immigration court by Mahsa Khanbabai and Marty Rosenbluth, and in federal court by Mahsa Khanbabai, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Massachusetts, ACLU of Vermont, CLEAR, and Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP. Audio access to the hearing is available here.  

BURLINGTON, Vt. – From the bench, Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford ordered the release of Mohsen Mahdawi from prison on bail today, pending the resolution of his habeas petition. The government requested that Judge Crawford pause his release from prison for seven days by issuing a stay of the order, which the judge denied. “Mohsen is a ray of light in his communities, and we are so relieved that today he walked out those courtroom doors and back into the arms of his loved ones,” said Luna Droubi, partner of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP. “Their claims and actions are baseless, without evidence, and are a disgrace to the U.S. Constitution. We will keep fighting until Mohsen is free for good.” In a comment outside of the courthouse, Mohsen thanked supporters, leading a chant: “The people united will never be defeated” across a crowd of hundreds of Vermonters. “We are pro-peace and anti-war,” he added. In closing, Mohsen shared a heartfelt message to Palestinians: “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering; and I see freedom and it is very very soon.” Mr. Mahdawi is a lawful permanent resident of the United States who has lived in Vermont for 10 years and is set to graduate from Columbia University in May. ICE detained Mr. Mahdawi in direct retaliation for his advocacy of Palestinian rights. He was taken on April 14, directly after his long-awaited naturalization interview at an immigration field office. After apprehending him, ICE attempted to put him on a plane to Louisiana, but a temporary restraining order issued by Judge William K. Sessions III compelled the government to keep Mr. Mahdawi in Vermont. Other information about this is available here. Mr. Mahdawi is represented by Cyrus Mehta and David Isaacson of Cyrus D. Mehta Partners, PLLC; Luna Droubi of Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP; Andrew Delaney of Martin Delaney & Ricci Law Group; CLEAR; the American Civil Liberties Union; and the ACLU of Vermont. The following are quotes from Mr. Mahdawi’s legal team: “Mohsen is a valued member of his community here in Vermont. His friends and neighbors — and people across the country — are right to be deeply concerned by the government’s retaliation against him,” said Lia Ernst, legal director at the ACLU of Vermont. “Mohsen has committed no crime, and the government’s only supposed justification for holding him in prison is the content of his speech. We are proud to be on his legal team and we won’t stop fighting for Mohsen’s freedom.” “The court’s order to free Mohsen today is a victory for Mohsen, in his just pursuit of continued advocacy for Palestinian lives, and it is a victory for all people in this country invested in their ability to dissent and speak and protest for causes they are morally drawn to. We will continue our legal battle for Mohsen until his constitutional rights are fully vindicated,” said Shezza Abboushi Dallal, staff attorney with CLEAR. “Nobody should fear detention for exercising their rights under the First Amendment. We are delighted that the court recognized that Mohsen is not a flight risk and that he should be released while his case proceeds,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project.