a federal judge's order. this is one hour and 15 minutes. >> thank you for coming, everyone, welcome to our discussion with badar khan suri, political prisoner. -- former political prisoner. he was arrested and taken to the prairie land ice detention sit -- facility in alvarado, texas. his case is a parallel case to that of khalil in columbia, as

well as several other cases. on may 14 he was released from detention and now he is back, he reunited with his family, and we should all know that the trump administration is still pursuing an immigration case where they seek his deportation on the grounds that his presence in the united states poses a grave and enduring, dire threat to the foreign policy of the united states of america. tonight we are here -- here to hear his story and the details of his ordeal. before i began asking the first question, i want to talk about the importance of badar khan suri's case, because they are connected in three overlapping ways. number one, this is a case of someone who's civil rights and human rights were grossly violated by the united states. number two, his case is directly connected to the authoritarian transition that is underway in this country as we speak by the trump administration.

the third reason is that, you know, this is a case directly connected to the ongoing and escalating genocide in gaza backed by the united states government. so, for those three reasons, badar khan suri's case profoundly matters. it's a huge honor for me personally to have him here to speak to an audience, to step -- to tell his story, and i want to thank him for being with us tonight. the first question that i have, badar, is i want you to take us back to march 17, that fateful night when you were arrested. tell us what happened to you in as much detail as you want to on that important day. badar: thank you. thank you for having me. good evening, everyone. it is a pleasure to sit freely with you, though there was a time when i wasn't free.

march 17, it was monday. in those days monday was very special to me. i use to me. i used to teach my class on mondays. it was my first course, first time as a teacher that i was teaching, teaching something very important, majority is him and minority rights. it's the same thing everywhere. i hope i am audible. it was a beautiful day. first, i like spring a lot, because of the way trees were changing colors. i've been here for more than two years now. when this thing is getting pink, then read it i was waiting at the bus stop, waiting for the trees to turn purple, i think i

will bring my kids and put them into the spot and we will have wonderful pictures with them. then i thought i would go for cherry blossoms. last time it was wrong. ramadan would be ending around march 30 or 31st. then i would have the chance to go to cherry blossom with my kids. it was a beautiful day, a beautiful class with my students and everything. i was fasting. it was ramadan. after my class, i was tired, i took some time, i sat there for half an hour by myself. later, some of my colleagues told me that there were some suspicious people sitting outside my class who waited for me for a very long time. because they thought that i had

left, they were not able to arrest me or kidnapped me there. they would have done that there. maybe they were following me or whatever. then i was hungry, i was waiting for sunset so that i can break my fast, then go to my community place where everyone was there for breaking the fast. i sat with them and had a great turkish meal. i was missing my kids. everybody was asking where my son is. everyone is fond of him. i promised them the next day i would bring him in. then i left the place around 9:00. i took my shuttle. in those days, as a father of my kids, my only concern was what we are eating for our pre-done

meal and what will my kids have for their break fast for their school. in those thoughts, i was moving towards my apartment. and then everything changed. by 9:20, 9:25, when i reached my apartment, i saw that there was something strange. an old black car was not driving perfectly. it stopped as if it was trying to hit me. i stopped for some time thinking what is this guy doing and then i just moved. those seconds were moving very slow in that moment. that was only 50 meters. then all of a sudden, when i was about to turn towards my building, this car that had been driving dangerously until now, someone blocked me, opened the

gate. i saw a mask guy jumped out of the car. and then he said -- are you badar? i was shocked. this guy who was driving so badly, how does he know my name? he was masked. he was not wearing any kind of uniform, no badges, nothing. he looked like a proper militia guy. how does he know my name? i was petrified in that moment. all i could say was -- yeah. he said that you are under arrest. i said -- what is he saying? how can he say what he is saying? who is he? i was struck with what and why, but if i. why? why is he saying this? all i could do at the time, he just said be there, be there.

i was there and then i realized that i have a phone, why don't i try, maybe he won't allow me but call my wife, say that hey this is happening. i called my wife. thankfully, he didn't see, he allowed, whatever. i was able to talk to my wife, please come, people are taking me. she was into that is able to understand what i was saying, but i repeated it and then she came. she saw me surrounded by these masked agents and answering nothing. she asked -- who are you, why are you doing this? all he said was that his student visa was revoked. i got a small hope. i said maybe he's confused, i'm not a student. i should tell him i'm a researcher, a professor, i'm teaching students. but it was the same thing.

you are a student. then i quickly asked my wife to bring my passport and my document to prove to him that i'm not. maybe he is still confused. she brought it. when she brought it, they had handcuffed me and put me, may be they were putting me in this same black unmarked car. they didn't let my wife give my passport and my ds 29 form to me. they took it. then we moved. i was still in big shock. devastated. i knew nothing. i was numb. as they moved, they started talking. i asked what is happening, why doing this after the student visa provoking thing? they said that someone very high at the secretary of state's office doesn't want you here.

i said, ok, why would the secretary of state and all of this about me? who am i? they said we will deport you. i said what? this was shock aftershock aftershock. deport me? all i could ask a very un-sensible way was when, and he said now, today. as i said, it was shock aftershock ok, i was then known him for some time. i said will my family or my wife know where i'm going and what i'm doing? they said we will let her know when we put you on the flight. i said quietly -- who are these people? did they say why they are doing this? i didn't even understood -- understand what i did wrong. it was a regular day. i taught, i came back, fasting a long time. one week before i was extremely ill. i could walk.

maybe i had covid or something. then they told to my wife that they are taking me to chantilly. now i was able to understand, chantilly, deportation, airport, everything is, i can, like yeah, chantilly, the dehumanization has started. they asked me to remove my shoes . shoes, the laces, they took me inside, then they finger scanned it, all these things. then the officers, masked officers, now, they step aside and a civilian clothed person was doing all those things. they are saying that we know you are not -- i said what is happening. he said no, we are not, you are not going anywhere. we know you're not a criminal, we know everything about you,

it's a crazy time. they kept on those lines, that it was a crazy time and you will get your justice. i said that guy said they are deporting me. he said no, and then they showed me some paper they generated, you have a code in texas. and in maine. i asked why. i was relieved at that time that they said they were not deporting me and that i had a code, not a criminal, justice will prevail and i will be back to my family. then he said it was a generated code and that now, the next shock was now we will take you to a 3 hour drive from here to somewhere, to a farm in virginia. i said why not here? he said it's night, we don't have a place or a bed, it's a place for wear after some days

you can be back your family for sure. i was happy with that. he had allowed me to talk to my wife. i said that something bad happened, now they see i have a code and they are taking me this night and i will return soon. i told her everything. and then, more chains this time. they put my -- they put the shackles back. now, my waste has chains. not legs this time. until now. then they took me to this base. i'm claustrophobic. they put me in a small car in for the first time in my life i was now shackled, chain, in a very small car. i don't know what was happening or why. , but we -- why.

but we moved, it was a very tough journey. then we reached the area and another shock, the woman that we entered -- the moment we entered, the inside, there were cells, people in chains. yeah, they just put me in a cell by myself. yeah, some of you guys are eating, but yeah, i had to use the bathroom and there was a camera over me. i had only seen these things in movies it was happening to me for the first time. it was a bathroom under that camera. i had to go. i did it. the next thing was i had to sleep on the floor without a blanket, for sure. i was telling them that it was like 3 a.m. now and i was telling them that i am fasting and i need a pre-sunset meal

around 5:30. the meal never came. i kept on asking and they never gave me anything. the nurse, she did a tb test and said you will be fine, now, you won't be in this cell. you will be going to a dorm and things will be fine. then the rain came at around 6 a.m., 7:00 a.m.. they took me to another place. here, farm bill, -- here i was told i would be allowed to talk to my wife, but they didn't let me do anything or answer what i was asking. as if i'm a dead man, my soul was there and it felt like they could not see anything. then they took me again to some other place. this time they put my ankle shackles on me. it hurt again.

chains, the wrist shackles, chains, lists, those shoes slipping out of your feet without laces. they were just pushing you, putting you in some car with many people like you. then i think somewhere in richmond. there they put me in a small cell by myself. it was very cold. there was not even a space to lay down their. they didn't remove my chains, the shackles from my ankles. i sat there, hungry. then, again, they came around 1:00, maybe. they say, let's move. i asked them, i need to talk to my wife, tell them i'm fine, i'm here, something. they didn't reply. then i asked them again, where am i going?

they would not reply again. they said that they were not supposed to tell me. they put us in a car and then with the rain, it was an hour long drive with stops at some places. all of a sudden i saw myself on a tarmac where the big plane was. my car was there. i thought ok, they are lying, they are deporting me, that's why they are not letting with wife no. >> you thought they were sending you back to india? badar: yeah. they had just moved me from my home, saying that we are reporting you today. he also said when i asked them, he said it could be performed. they can do anything, they were lying, not letting me talk to my family and i didn't even know if

i had an attorney or anything. so, now i'm on the tarmac, like around 3:00 or 4:00 they put us on a plane. another shock was in was a big plane. everyone was in the same condition like me. chained, shackled. the first thing i asked them was -- i need to use the bathroom. they said later, we will let you know. when they let me know and they took me there, i was waiting for some time to unlock. they said you have to use it like this. use it or do whatever you want to do or do it in your trousers, you may not think. even the door won't close. there was no tissue, no water. they had sanitizer, that was the only thing they were doing. we were totally dehumanized.

treated as if we were animals. and we didn't know where this move was going. i thought -- like maybe, india, not india, somewhere, there were other people as well. but for some, deportation. they were all hispanic people around me. they didn't know english. i was learning to talk to them. someone said that maybe we are going to louisiana. authorities never told us anything. then we landed in louisiana in the evening. we landed and then i read that it was an alexandria station facility. 50 meters from this tarmac again, people are saying that we need to go to the bathroom. please, please.

they said do it here. and they said no problem, we wash everything. they would not let anyone go. at around 9:00, when they were doing it, first they spread my legs. i didn't know. i had to put up my foot, but i didn't do anything. the guy punched the back of my knee. i limped when i walk. then at night they put us in this kind of cell, where we were locked. i didn't get food. i told them i was fasting in didn't have anything for breakfast. they said we can do something,

we can do something. they brought it around midnight. but i excepted, whatever, at least i got it at midnight. i don't know. i have brought water, that was enough for me at that time. so, yes, we were there for three days. i was not able to talk to my wife. all the time there was a phone there where you could talk, but you needed an ide, which they wouldn't give me. they said i would get there ultimately when i was in texas. i wasn't able to talk to my wife, but there was an optional free call for 20 section -- 20 seconds. i was able to hear her and later she told me she never heard my voice. i thought, what is happening with her, who is she with?

i thought they had taken her and my kids as well. with the uncertainty prevailing, i saw people coming from guantanamo. they were irregular migrants coming from guantánamo. i was going to deep shock and fear. they said it was regular in that maybe i would go there. that was extremely frustrating and terrifying. one of the days, may be the third day, tony had called me. i didn't know him at that time. i was scared about who i was talking to and later i realized he was my attorney. until that time, they didn't know what would happen. they moved to the board's for sure. nothing had happened until that time. after three days, on the 30th they moved me from louisiana on the 31st. then at night, two guys came

from some other convention center. then a lady came and told me that you two and me are going to new york. i realized those people told me they were going to new york and from there to get home, authorities had told them that. it's the same thing, they are sending me to india, finally. we were at the super deportation facility in alexandria right at the airport. the security officer later told me, as he was shocked to know who i was, he was shocked at why i was there. he said that in the week they had deported like 28 flights from that facility. now i'm thinking that i'm going to be deported, i'm going to new york. next morning, the lady came to me and said no, you are going to

texas can only those two guys are going to new york. i said maybe you can get something from texas. at noon the bus came into pleaded texas. it's 2 p.m., 3:00 p.m., we will be there around 8 p.m., i will need a meal. i was again put in a cell for six or seven hours. i kept on asking them, whenever i had eye contact, i would go like -- but they would ignore. that first meal was two slices, into the bread slices in the cheese. and an apple they gave me around midnight. that place where i was sitting was used as a bathroom. it was thinking. i asked if i could sit out or

let me eat out, but they ignored. that was a dehumanizing experience, but i was hungry and had certain gastric issues where if i don't eat at the proper time, i have gastric pain. i ate, i ate. i ate so no one could see me. i don't know why i did that. i was there from 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. at 3 a.m. they put me in my, in this pod where i will be for the next seven weeks, i think. when they put me in that pod, i don't know, first i was seeing that there were different kinds of uniforms. yellow, blue, red. when i was in the cell, i liked the red one, this looks good.

later, i would come to know what red means, highest security most dangerous people. when they put me, again, in that red security pod, i was shocked the moment that the garrow -- the guard opened the door. i put the pin back. it was super overcrowded. they started shouting. i could see at least a couple dozen plus people on the floor. this and that, there's, but they didn't care, pushed me in. i said, please, take me some other place. this odd thing was happening meet -- to me for the first time in five days. but they pushed me on.

they said -- want to rat on what you have done? i said, you are a rat. they said that we are rats, criminals. tell us your story. so, i was like extremely broken. >> at what point did you realize that you were arrested because of donald trump's crackdown on students and faculty because of their speech on gaza? that you were like my food khalil in these other students? story as the others -- for exercising your free speech rights? when did that become clear to you in this process? bazar: plainly -- badar:

plainly speaking, never. i knew they were arrested. i followed the media. i knew he was a student leader. he was organizing protests and the trump administration, before coming, they were saying we will take care of those who are protesting. it was from their playbook, they took him. i was not able to understand why they took me. before they took me, they were -- some docs in -- doxing groups were attacking. they were lucky to know that we can punish my wife. she has a husband who has a visa here.

i asked him, i am very inactive on social media. in a year, i will post four or five times. i was not able to understand why they were doing this to me. all i was able to understand was that they are taking me for my color, for my religion and because i am married to an american citizen of palestinian origin. it was her palestinian heritage for that they were taking me. and for sure, i am symbolic to palestinian rights. i am a sympathizer to palestinian in a billable -- inalienable rights. my wife is an american of palestinian origin. i am a person of color. i am muslim. i was able to think maybe these are the reasons that they are doing it.

they could have disappeared me, if i can say that. i was not able to talk to my wife. i didn't know if i had attorneys or not. my future attorney for sure, he called me. we talked for one minute and i didn't know anything. and i was seeing lies after lies. i was seeing a mockery of rule of law and due process. i was not able to understand why they would do this to me in the united states of america. i was thinking i would hear about these things in north korea or russia or somewhere in the middle east or africa. it was happening here and that was really shocking to me. >> how did you spend your time in this ice detention facility until you are released. what was your daily routine like? i know one of the things you told me was you only had access to fresh air two hours every

week. that must have been tough. can you give us a sense of what your daily routine was like? when did they feed you, how did you spend your time? some specifics of that would be valuable for understanding what happens to you. -- happened to you. badar: first, when they put me in, as i said, it was extremely crowded and people were there on the floors. they would put me in a tv room where the tv was blaring for exactly 21 hours, every day. would be on until 2:00 a.m. and again at 5:00 a.m. they would serve breakfast at 4:00 a.m. someone would come in the dorm and chow -- shout chow. there were some young kids doing

their job and they were excited about waking inmates. they would shout at 4:00 a.m., at 4:30 a.m., always before 5:00 a.m. and rectus would be like that. -- and breakfast would be like that. they would sleep late. whatever food they gave us, they give us small milk as well. if you want to save it and bring that. sometimes they would get breakfast to us in our dorm or at and even dinner. so, food, they would bring to the dorm. if you wanted milk to use it later for coffee, they would not allow that. i was in the tv room. i was on the floor for 14 days with other inmates. the food was really scary.

i love spices. but, the food was all bland. it was mashed potatoes. a small amount of beans or peas and carrots. and mostly, a soil patty. there was never meet. only on wednesday, wednesday lunch, there would be a small piece of chicken. they were very calorie conscious. they would give us white slices -- two white slices. extremely sugary cake piece -- an extremely sugary cake piece to have a rich carbohydrate diet so that everybody can maintain right. in these seven weeks or eight weeks, i lost around -- i was 81 cagey.

81 kilograms. -- 81 kilograms. when i came back, i was 73 kg. i lost eight kilograms. i realized something was not good in my body. i asked them to check my blood. when they checked it, they were giving us processed food. my cholesterol was 273. my triglycerides were 490. my uric acid was 7.15. my vitamin d was 20. i was in extremely bad condition. because of that, i stopped eating carbs. i asked them for a healthy diet. they gave me a hard, healthy diet, which was instead of white slices, they would give us the same food with brown slices. we would not go out but for two

hours in a week. the food would be given around 5:00 or 6:00. they wouldn't care how your health was deteriorating. if you have anything to do with your teeth, they won't check you before six months. the retention center laws, in order to check your teeth, you need to be there for six months. i have seen many people there whose teeth were barely moving and they won't do anything. one poor guy, one iraqi got, they booked -- guy, they booked an appointment. it was in dulles. when he reached there, they said you came here a year

earlier, your pointman is on april 26, 2025. they brought him back, he came with this moving tooth. this molar tooth. there were many like that. there were people who were not able to see. their eyesight was going bad. my nails didn't grow. being muslim, we have to do a special prayer on fridays. i would always trim my nails on friday. in these two months, i trimmed my nails two times. one month -- it was extreme malnutrition. it's the reason my ligaments are in very bad condition. and the people were on their own. if they were suffering, they were on their own. if there was a fist inside, people were on their own. if they were doing whatever they were doing. >> who were the other inmates?

what were their stories like? badar: they were dangerous -- they should be dangerous people but i did not find any of them dangerous. they had their punishment in counted years. they were there to be either released on bond or deported. they were mostly hispanics but also, asians and africans. these people, some of them were in jail for 10 years. some of them were there for a mere crossing a red light or not paying for a ticket or for small things. very small things. there were two 18-year-old boys there who they arrested them. they were driving a car when they were not 18. these people, most of them,

maybe all of them, were somehow part of this american society, as they were men. all of them were married to american citizens. all of them had many children, all born here. and all of them were working hard, paying taxes, doing everything. and now, their families are standing for food stamps. some people, from southeast asia, there was a guy from southeast asia. there were many. his family came to the united states, he was five or six years old. he was born in laos. his family was supporting the american army and fighting along with the american army in the vietnam war. the american administration gave them asylum. he came here. he had some first-generation

issue. he had some problem at his school and went to jail for one or two years when he was 17. after that, he was clean for 23 years. he was 40 years old now. and then suddenly he was taken by ice for something. he already -- he went to jail for that and took his punishment . that thing happen 23 years back. and then they booked him for deportation. he was deported to laos, a country he has never seen. a country against which his father and grandfather fought along with americans. some africans were sad and they would say -- there was a guy who arrived from vermont. this guy from d.c., he was from

liberia and he came when his father was killed and they were given asylum. they were saying that you will see that everyone is either released or given a bond but we, the blacks are always deported. so, these kinds of things were happening. >> one of the things you told me that i want to tell -- you to tell the audience because i think it's an interesting part of your experience, around your stay, the ice agents would come in and announced does anybody want to self deport? we can facilitate that immediately, just raise your hand. badar: every week, every kind of racial group would have different ice officers. there were like 10. every week, they would all come, all of them, as if they were making an important announcement. otherwise, they would try to know what is happening.

they would never respond. on this specific and, what they want to do is come and announced anyone, they will say it as anyone who wants to give away their legal rights, anybody who wants to self deport, please sign in and you will go tomorrow. we would see a hispanic sign. the same night or next day, they were gone. they would regularly come like this. on the other hand, there was a guy from ghana, who was waiting to go to his home from six months. and he would say i want to pay my ticket, i want to go home, when will i go home? he was never allowed. i came here and he was still there and he said he was there for six months. this is a tale of extreme corruption. this is also a tale for jailing the industrial complex where

journalists should look into companies who just own, across america, these billion-dollar facilities. they will just grab people and kidnap people from the street who are an integral part of american siding with their wives and husbands and children being american citizens. they would grab them and not let them -- some of them want to go home. and they would not let them go home because they are making money on every floor space every day. $300 every day. i heard when i was there, that the ministry should was saying they put -- giving $1000 to those who want to self deport. an extremely corrupt system as well. yeah. >> i want to give you a chance to respond to the accusations

that the trump administration has made against you, claiming you are a threat to american foreign policy. they have said the official reason why you have to be deported is because you are guilty of spreading pro-hamas propaganda and anti-semitism and thus you are a threat to american foreign policy. do you want to respond to those charges? badar: yeah. why not? i totally reject these allegations. these are nothing because we were in court, the ministry should and me. -- the administration and me. and in the court, they kept on asking, whatever you are talking on social media, please bring some evidence here. and they were not able to bring anything. the honorable judge gave them an extra day to bring something. they were not able to bring them again. reject these claims.

they were nothing. in fact, i will tell you one more thing, what i was doing, what i used to do with my students here. mostly, i would talk about gandhi to my students. and when, because of gandhi's role on nonviolence and because of gandhi's role in south asia during those mad times of 1947 and the partition when millions were killed. people would find me because i was scared initially. they would ask me, when they would talk to me, they would say are you some kind of philosopher? i would say no, i am a teacher. that is it and that is why i sound boring. and they would say no, you sound like some philosopher. you are from india. you sound like gandhi. a guy from d.c. told me this. i said no -- i mean, yeah. i am extremely proud that you feel that vibe from me.

and for sure, i celebrate gandhi by every means. because gandhi is what the world needs. i'm not saying blast way but i compare him to modern-day profits. he was there in that space and time but he is forever for his role and his philosophy of nonviolence and philosophy of forgiveness. when i get a chance, i would always teach. some of them when they were young were younger part of gang violence and used to use guns and were now suffering. i would tell them that i saw some of them had extreme anger issues because of the place they were living and the life they live. i would see them fight to have control and try to learn about forgiveness and try to learn about nonviolence. and then we will keep talking about gandhi and the ideology all of the time.

>> i want to turn to the audience to ask some questions. given the trauma that you have gone through, you must be living in fear of what could come next, because you are living one day in a country where you thought the rule of law existed. you are living by the rules and all of a sudden, you disappear and you find yourself in an ice detention facility in texas. can you talk about the fears you are feeling today? badar: i would be lying if i said i don't feel the fear and i am extremely courageous and everybody be courageous. i am a human. like every human. i am a father of three kids. i have a wife. and i am sick of this to tell terrien is in -- of this totalitarianism.

racism of different kinds. but i know how people suffer. this fear, i still believe this country has rule of law. it has taken me some time. i was brought back to my community, my people. most of them stood by me and were shocked to know about this ordeal i passed through. i will do every part to show my character and strength. there's a reason i am speaking on every occasion to people who want to hear from me. i will continue to do that. one has to be, when you are in

academia, you have certain moral obligations as well when you are teaching your students. you need to tell people for the betterment of society, for me, my role model is always gandhi. i asked my students in every way to learn from gandhi because gandhi is the hope. there is fear. when the woman lied and kidnapped me in the debt of the night without due process, they were trying to deport me on march 20 and were not able to do so. a judge put a restraining order that they cannot deport me until i get my case in court.

there is fear. we still have, in this tough time, moral obligations to talk about what we should do to guide our students. i want this to be a place for gen z and for my children. i see in my children, every child. i don't want kids to go through what they went through during holocaust or what they are going through during his genocide in gaza. >> last question i think everyone wants to know is what comes next for you, legally. because the trump administration is still trying to deport you. there is still a long legal battle that lies ahead. and to answer that last question, i want to turn the microphone over to one of your lawyers who is here tonight, haas on commit.

please give it up for him because he's responsible for this man's freedom -- hassan achmed. please give it up for him because he's responsible for this man's freedom. [applause] >> it definitely is a team effort. i was able to speak with him two nights or three nights after he was taken. i think it is interesting that i was given -- the only reason i was able to speak with him was because i was able to get the cell phone number of the new orleans ice field office director who put me through and was able to get an officer at the alexandria state facility to call me back. that's the only way i was able to reach. if i had not had that connection, it would not have been possible. it wasn't confidential. it wasn't a private attorney line. i couldn't be assured of any confidentiality.

so, we just spoke in a different language. that was the best we could do. [applause] badar: he's the one who knows what fear is in my head at that time. >> that was just a short time after. we are thrilled that the doctor is out of jail. he's no longer incarcerated and i had gone down to texas myself for his initial immigration court hearing on may 6. i came a few days before and got to meet him for the first time. saturday, before his hearing. his legal battles are just getting started. there is a long, long way to go. but, at least he gets to fight it outside of a jail cell. many people, many of whom he referenced, his co-inmates don't get that opportunity.

because of the way the system works. it is designed to snatch you up, break your spirit, kill your spirit until you are just ready to say fine, get me the hell out of here. that is the way i've been seeing it, i've been practicing immigration law for more than 20 years and it has not changed. it's gotten worse. companies like lasalle corrections or geo group or core civic make billions of dollars, billions of dollars, trading and trafficking human beings. and it needs to stop. his court case, there is an ongoing series of applications that we have in federal court in the eastern district of virginia. his immigration court case is ongoing. we were able to successfully get it moved out of texas. and it is now in the annandale,

virginia, district court which has jurisdiction over where he lives. but, make no mistake. the state of the law on this foreign policy ground is horrible. at this stage, judges, immigration judges, have almost no authority to second-guess the findings of the secretary of state. so, marco rubio could chatgpt a letter and say that, well, no judge would be able to say hey, show your math. nobody would be able to say anything -- show anything as long as it is facially reasonable. it took a long time but we did get the rubio determination as we call it. it represents is three exhibit tabs. the government has yet to

provide those exhibit tabs to us. it is just sort of the preface of the determination and it's the only thing that's been given to us. in court, we demanded, we demanded to show the arrest warrant for dr. suri, which has not been shown to him or anyone of his attorneys to this day. we also asked for proof that the so-called rubio determination was issued in compliance with the law itself. immigration nationality specifically says that if a determination is made to remove a foreign national, based on a foreign policy ground and it's made on a basis that would be constitutionally protected conduct, in this case, free speech or freedom of association

, ok, those are constitutionally protected activities. then, not only does the determination have to be facially reasonable. but, you also have to notify the heads of four different congressional committees, ok, two on the senate side and two on the house side. and then, the reason that the secretary of state gives goes from being reasonable, it must be now compelling. we asked for proof that those notifications were made. today, nothing has been provided. nothing. and that has been the case and in many similar cases, we have been pushing, both from a legal standpoint, from using the courts and also using our contacts in congress, pushing legislatively, to try to get some transparency. as the doctor said. when it came time to file the evidence they had in court, they

came up with nothing. they had nothing. nothing! nothing, whatsoever. from here, it will go out. and it will be a contested remove ability hearing. we expect to have to appeal that. even if we do win the hearing, the government will appeal that. so, this case and the case of the others is going to be headed up for appellate review. there will be a long way to go. there is still a long way to go. i want to say that i am extremely proud of my client. [applause] he's the living embodiment

of the principles of gandhi. he walks the walk. he doesn't just talk the talk. there is something he told me that i will never forget when i first met him at the detention center in alvarado, texas. i am translating but he said i was who they wanted me to be. i kept my head down. i had my nose in my books. but after they've done this to me, why should i be silent? [applause] >> we have time for a few questions and then we will wrap it up. i want the media to know that there will not be one media interviews afterwards. you have to contact the aclu. but we can take a few questions and then we will wrap it up. the floor is open. she has her hand up. >> i'm sorry.

hi, thank you so much. and it is good to hear from you. i think you kind of answered my question at the end but i wanted to ask if you think this would have, in similar cases and at least winning partially in court, do you think this will have an encouraging impact for people who are active or outspoken? the arrest had a chilling effect on activism on campuses and everything. what do you think these small wins will have a reversal or at least sort of balance that impact? and, thank you again, for being here. badar: civil society is extremely important. and courts also look at the society. what society demands. and if civil society really

knows what's happening, they note due process. they know their freedom of speech. it's for their own thing that they want to keep constitutional democracy or go toward autocracy. people will say whatever happened -- people who will say whatever happens to them will stay with the marginalized. i am extremely proud of that. [applause] >> right here. badar: i will say something here. i come from land of mahatma gandhi and mahatma gandhi belongs to everyone. he was preaching love and forgiveness to people. he was shot dead. your own martin luther king was preaching civil liberties and everything and he was shot dead.

i will be on this good track. thank you. [applause] >> i had a question for the lawyer. you've mentioned that you have seen for 20 years, people going through these prison systems. i am curious to know, how different or unprecedented is the situation we are seeing now? have we seen any sort of similar cases to this where people are being snatched off for their perceived threat to foreign policy? >> this foreign policy ground, section 237 a4c is new. part of the difficulty we have as lawyers, even to deal with this issue is that there -- there is no precedent. there is one case from the board of immigration appeals from 1999

that we can rely on. and that's what i was telling you with the state of the law being as bad as it is, that's the case where it comes from. which, itself, grew out of a case that was decided by none other than marianne trump, president trump's sister, in 1996, out of the third circuit decision. there are a lot of buttons to press and a lot of levers to pull in order to transform our immigration machine or our immigration law into a deportation machine. what i have noticed this time, whereas before, it was like bringing a sledgehammer. breaking down everything, trump one point oh. this time, they brought a scalpel. they knew exactly where to push. they knew exactly where to pull. it feels a lot more surgical this time. and as a due process enthusiast,

it scares me and concerns me a great deal what we were seeing this time -- what we are seeing this time around. >> we have a question back here, behind you. >> go ahead. >> thank you. >> for mr. suri and the attorney, thank you so much. my question is what would you like to see all of us doing right now? the people in this room, the networks we are part of, in regards to your case and other people facing the same situation and more broadly, what do you want us to be doing? >> do you want to take that first? >> be loud. in a word. i think our elected officials need to understand there is a cost to supporting or even remaining silent in the face of these policies. this administration has been

pushing the envelope to try to see what they can get away with. and, the more silent you are, the more silent you are, the more they are going to take. i have spent 20 years, much of my practice is in removal defense and filing asylum cases. well-documented, where how people have to run from tyranny. how people have to run from authoritarianism. one thing you realize whether you are talking about el salvador or syria or even talking about in india, they all have the same playbook. tierney looks the same everywhere. -- tyranny looks the same, everywhere. -- that is something that we need to make sure it doesn't happen.

and it happens quicker than you would think. and that makes it a collective obligation on those of us. dr. suri is still here on a visa. he's in deportation hearings but yet, still he speaks. what excuse do you want to have? [applause] >> i will say a small thing. societies are what people make out of it. build your society. >> let's take two more questions and then we will start to wrap it up. there is a question right here. go ahead. >> you mentioned a guard punched you on your knee. did they often get physical with people? >> i don't know, this happened once to me. badar: they normally come with pepper spray and pepper spray people. there was a solid re-confinement board.

regularly, they would all run and bring somebody with pepper spray. >> plus question. >> thank you so much, dr. suri treat you spoke about a lot of dark experiences you had in detention. i was wondering if you could speak of any positive -- not positive -- but any hopeful expenses or interactions you had. >> if there is suffering, i always see something where it is like this is how we have to live. there also, i was doing everything. this guy, adam, he used to build houses. when he would make his map, i would make my map, in a style of apartment. there was a guy called john. he said he was 500 pounds when he was -- his wife and he were

fighting and suddenly his daughter called the police and his daughter said poppa, runaway, i called police and they will come and take you. so, they took him and he lost 300 pounds in one month. i still said don't eat sugar, try to control your rate. he had a bite of the sugar rich cake and he threw it. i said what are you doing? he said you told me not to eat sugar. what i would also do, most of the people were not english speakers. and some of them did not know their rights. there was some kind of a small clinic in that we could request certain medicines. i would say say that i have pain here. i need a vitamin d test. they were shocked to see how i was able to get it. i would regularly like for them

-- i have this myopia, this and that. for at least three or four people, i was writing this letter to their judges about their cases because they were not having any attorney. i was writing letters for them. i was doing whatever i can do. i was able to help everyone there, by every means possible. yeah. >> please give it up for badar khan suri. [applause]

let me applaud you for coming. >> thank you very much for being here. thank you, dr. suri. i want to ask two simple questions really quick and i don't know if they have been answered. all of these are individual cases and they are very similar. you have dr. suri, of course. are you guys combining efforts to have a class action thing going on? >> i wouldn't call it a class action but we are all in touch with each other. we are all sharing resources and research and doing what we can to save our resources and bandwidth so that we can put our

lines where it is best used. -- our minds where it is best used. >> is at the same arguments in all of them? -- is it the same arguments in all of them? >> similar. one person's case is in louisiana. which is located in the fifth circuit. we are trying different things. we are trying different things and each decision that comes out , so far, they have all been mostly positive. it gives us a little more momentum. like i said, the state of the law is so bad on this issue and the burden of proof from the government, there is no burden of proof for the government. that's what it comes down to. so, we have a long way to go. what has to change is the law itself. that's why we need everyone to make as much noise as possible.

>> the weaponization of anti-semitism. anti-semitism has become a dog whistle for white supremacy. often times, the attack that happened in boulder, colorado with the molotov cocktails, the president, he never mentioned the word jewish. he said this is an anti-semitic thing. and of course, a lot of those people really don't like jews. they are truly anti-semitic. but anti-semitic is being used as a weapon to say this is to pro-anti-supremacy. and so, using that kind of threshold to be able to do that. is it -- how do you deal with that? how do you get beyond that? >> the first thing you have to do is forcefully say all of us condemn all forms of racism and

bigotry including anti-semitism. >> but i think if you are saying anti-semitism, you are saying antiwhite supremacy. you have to be careful to say i condemn anti-semitism. it's i condemn jewish bigotry. >> -- >> is people don't. >> the irony of the trump administration arresting people in the name of anti-semitism is trump himself is one of the biggest anti-semites in the country. if you don't like a behavior and you want to stop it, the first thing you should do is stop promoting it yourself. >> you have to redefine anti-semitism and how they are using it and use it as a weapon against them. that's what needs to happen. >> i totally agree. and then we have the question without israel and netanyahu are deliberately using antisemitism to justify this genocide.

completely distorting what's going on and using it as a shield to justify this grotesque , moral obscenity that is ongoing in gaza, as everyone knows, and is getting worse. i think what has to be morally consistent here for us to point out the hypocrisy and the cynical manipulation of these claims that are being used, to justify these authoritarian policies. i want to thank you once again for giving us an opportunity at this bookstore for having these types of discussions and debates.