Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University researcher detained because of his views on Gaza, obtained some legal relief on Tuesday when a judge rejected the US federal government's attempt to have his case moved to Texas.
Authorities arrested Mr Suri in Virginia on March 17 and placed him into America's opaque detention system for immigrants, who are often moved quickly around the country, making it hard to keep in contact with lawyers and family.
Mr Suri was moved several times and ended up in Texas while federal authorities pursue his potential deportation.
Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security, State Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement claimed overcrowding in the original detention facilities in Virginia as justification for moving Mr Suri.
But in federal court in Virginia on Tuesday, US District Judge Patricia Giles cast doubt on the government's motives for moving Mr Suri to Texas, criticising official statements as being “riddled with inconsistencies.”
Excuses about lack of bed space, according to the Judge Giles, did not hold water.
“It appears the respondents' goal in moving petitioner was to make it difficult for petitioner's counsel to file,” the judge wrote, referring to Mr Suri's legal efforts to challenge his apprehension.
“This atypical movement would make it difficult for any diligent lawyer's filings to 'catch up' to their client's location,” she added.
Some of Mr Suri's supporters have claimed the government wants his case to be heard in Texas to increase the odds of a conservative judge hearing the case.
Regardless, as a result of the Judge Giles's ruling, Virginia will be the venue for the Georgetown scholar's case.
A court hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, next week may determine when Mr Suri will be returned from Texas, and possibly determine whether he will be released on bond.
The US Department of Homeland Security has claimed Mr Suri “had close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas”, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had determined that the scholar's activities “rendered him deportable”.
Tuesday's court filing shows that the Palestinian heritage of Mr Suri's wife, Mapheze Saleh, a US citizen who is listed as a member of Georgetown's class of 2026, was the main a motive for his detention and pursued deportation.
In February, Israel's embassy in the US posted on X that Ms Saleh was “the daughter of a Hamas senior adviser”. Georgetown has said that it was “not aware of him [Mr Suri] engaging in any illegal activity”, adding that the university had not received any reason for his detention.
Attorneys for Mr Suri have called the accusations about Mr Suri's wife fanciful, and have said that both Ms Saleh and her husband have become the victims of doxing.
In April, Georgetown Dean Joel Hellman said he was deeply concerned about Mr Suri's arrest and detention.
“Like many in our community, Dr Suri has been exercising his constitutionally protected rights to express his views on the war in the Middle East. Georgetown has consistently protected such freedoms within the context of our long-standing Speech and Expression Policy,” he said.
Students at Georgetown University have protested against Mr Suri's detention, demanding his release and the reversal of the government's deportation efforts.
