A federal court says removing the wife and children of Mohamed Soliman without due process could cause ‘irreparable harm’.
A United States judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of family members related to a suspect accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado.
The ruling on Wednesday came after the administration of President Donald Trump arrested the wife of Mohamed Soliman and their five children in an effort to deport them.
Judge Gordon Gallagher wrote that Soliman’s wife, Hayam El Gamal, and her children cannot be removed from the country as long as his order stands.
“Moreover, the Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm,” the judge said.
El Gamal, who has not been charged with a crime, had filed a legal petition for her release.
Soliman, meanwhile, has been charged with a federal hate crime over the attack on Sunday, which injured 12 people.
It is unclear if the Trump administration has any evidence that Soliman’s relatives committed wrongdoing, or if they were simply targeted for their association with him. Authorities have indicated that Soliman appears to have acted alone in the attack.
Still, Trump officials signalled they would take an aggressive approach to investigating and deporting individuals they perceived to be linked to “terrorism”.
“In light of yesterday’s horrific attack, all terrorists, their family members, and terrorist sympathizers here on a visa should know that under the Trump Administration we will find you, revoke your visa, and deport you,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post on Monday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed on Tuesday the detention of Elgamal, her three daughters and her two sons, four of whom are minors.
“We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if