A federal judge has issued a temporary order prohibiting the Trump administration from deporting the wife and five children of Mohamed Soliman, an Egyptian national facing serious criminal charges. Soliman is accused of assaulting demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, using a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails during a violent encounter last weekend.
This ruling comes merely a day after the family, consisting of Soliman’s wife Hayam El Gamal and their five children, were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents amid reports that they could soon be removed from the United States.
U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher stated in his order that deportation without due process may cause irreparable harm to Soliman’s family. Consequently, he deemed it necessary to issue an order without prior notice due to the situation’s urgency.
A hearing has been scheduled for June 13 to further discuss the case.
The family’s legal team had argued in a petition for a writ of habeas corpus that punishing them for Soliman’s alleged actions constitutes a form of collective punishment, violating the core principles of a democratic justice system.
They emphasized that habeas petitions serve as a crucial legal tool to challenge unlawful detentions, underscoring the constitutional rights at stake.
On its official social media account, the White House warned that Soliman’s family could face deportation by the end of the day after their detention was confirmed.
Stephen Miller, the Trump administration’s senior immigration advisor, had previously indicated that the president was considering suspending the right to petition for habeas corpus for immigrants, raising concerns about due process rights.
Hayam El Gamal, 41, is described as a network engineer holding a pending EB-2 visa, which is designed for professionals with advanced degrees. The couple’s children, including an 18-year-old daughter and two sons and two daughters under 18 years old, all share Egyptian citizenship, as does El Gamal.
Despite Mohamed Soliman’s serious legal troubles, no other family members have been charged in connection with the incident. The family initially entered the United States in late August 2022 and had been granted permission to remain in the U.S. until late February 2023. Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022, naming his family as dependents in the application.
According to one of their attorneys, the family is currently being held at an immigration detention center in Texas.
Eric Lee, representing the family, condemned the treatment they are facing, characterizing the actions against them as akin to medieval justice systems. He expressed that children as young as four years old should not be punished for the perceived crimes of a relative.
Lee further commented, “The Trump administration’s vindictive attack on this young family echoes the methods of Nazi Germany, where authorities employed kin punishment to instill fear in the populace.”
In response to the judge’s order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the family’s claims as “absurd,” stating that their detention is warranted as they are in the U.S. illegally.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also made a statement emphasizing that Soliman would face the full extent of the law, asserting that investigations were underway to evaluate whether his family had any knowledge of his alleged actions.
Mohamed Soliman, 45, has been charged with attempted murder along with other crimes related to the Boulder incident, which resulted in injuries to 15 people and a dog. Demonstrators were advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas when the assault occurred, during which Soliman reportedly shouted, “Free Palestine!”
As the legal battle continues, advocates and legal experts are closely monitoring the implications this case may have on the rights of immigrant families facing deportation, as well as broader discussions surrounding U.S. immigration policies under the Trump administration.
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