US judge halts deportation of family of suspect in pro-Israel rally attack
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 they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a video posted online. 'Justice will be served.'
According to DHS, Soliman and his family arrived in the US on temporary visas in 2022 before applying for asylum.
Soliman's visa expired in 2023. Media reports indicate that El Gamal, meanwhile, applied for an employment visa: She has a background as a network engineer.
Critics say the tactic of penalising the relatives of a criminal suspect is a form of unlawful collective punishment.
In the West Bank, for instance, human rights groups have denounced Israeli operations that demolished the homes of Palestinians related to suspects in armed attacks.
The attack in Colorado has been linked to Israel's war on Gaza, which United Nations experts have described as a genocide. The suspect allegedly yelled 'Free Palestine' during the fire-bombing.
The Washington-backed war has also sparked other violent incidents on US soil. The incident in Colorado followed the killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, DC, last month.
In October 2023, a six-year-old Palestinian boy was stabbed to death in the Chicago area in another crime linked to the war. The 73-year-old suspect reportedly told the boy's mother that Muslims 'must die' as he attacked them. He was sentenced to 53 years after being convicted of murder and hate crimes.
Weeks later, three Palestinian American students were shot and severely wounded in Vermont.
The war on Gaza has killed at least 54,607 Palestinians, according to health officials.
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