Wife of Colorado terror suspect makes desperate plea from ICE detention

Daily Mail​

7 hours ago

The wife of an Egyptian national accused of hurling makeshift flamethrowers at pro-Israel protesters has issued a desperate plea from an ICE facility where she and her five children are being held.
Hayam El Gamal, 43, and her children were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on June 3 - just days after her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, allegedly attacked a demonstration honoring the October 7 victims who are still being held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza.
A dozen people between the ages of 52 and 88 were injured in the attack, which federal prosecutors believe Soliman planned out over the course of a year - driven by his anger toward Israel and his animosity toward 'Zionists.'
The terror suspect is now facing 118 state charges, including attempted murder, as well as a federal hate crime charge for the assault.
In a statement on Wednesday, El Gamal insisted she and her children had no idea what her husband was reportedly planning as she begged Americans to push for her and her family's release.
'My children and I are in total shock over what they say my husband did in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month,' she said in the statement released by her Michigan-based immigration attorney, Eric Lee.
'So many lives were ruined that day. There is never an excuse for hurting innocent people,' El Gamal said from the Dilley Family Detention Center in Texas.
'We have been cooperating with the authorities, who are trying their best to get to the bottom of this. We send our love to the many families who are suffering as a result of the attack.'
She then went on to question why she and her children are being punished for the actions of her husband and their father.
'Why punish any of us, who did nothing wrong?' El Gamal said, noting that on the night of June 3 she and her five children were put on a flight and transferred to Colorado to the Texas-based facility.
Her eldest daughter, Habiba Soliman, has since turned 18 at the ICE detention center, while her seven year old and 15 year old also have upcoming birthdays.
At the detention center, El Gamal said the family is 'treated like animals by the officers who told us we are going to be punished for what my husband is accused of doing,' and claimed that her youngest children were 'forced to watch officials rough up' another detainee.
'They cried and cried, thinking they would be roughed up, too.'
She also claimed that the conditions at the Dilley Family Detention Center are inhumane, and detainees are always being watched and woken up in the middle of the night.
Now, the mother-of-five says all her children want 'is to be home, to be in school, to have privacy, to sleep in their own beds, to have their mother make them a home cooked meal, to help them grieve and get through these terrible weeks.'
'But instead, we are here, in jail in Texas, where you can't be human,' El Gamal said.
She also claimed she and her family have 'tried to do everything right' since they arrived in the United States on a visa in August 2022, noting that they learned English, found work and were good neighbors 'cooking food for those around us regardless of whether they are Muslim, Christian or Jewish.
'I do not judge anyone based on his religion. If your heart is good, that's enough,' El Gamal continued, arguing she just wants 'to give my children good lives.
'It has been two weeks in jail, how much longer will we be here for something we didn't do? How much longer until the damage to my children is irreversible?' she said.
'It has been so hard for me to stay strong for my kids. I'm so tired.
'I ask the American people, with all my heart, to please listen to our story and help us,' she pleaded.
Meanwhile, her attorney is fighting to get the family to remain in the United States - arguing that it is unclear why they are being detained.
In court documents filed last week, federal prosecutors note that the family entered the United States with B1 visitor visas in 2022, which are meant to be used for business purposes, such as conferences, according to KDVR.
Soliman then filed for asylum on September 29, 2022, listing his wife and five children as dependents - and he was granted a work authorization in March 2023.
That asylum claim is still pending, according to a petition provided to a federal judge last week, which also noted that El Gamal is a network engineer with a pending EB2 visa - which is given to professionals with advanced degrees.
But Lee argued to CNN, 'The issue here is whether they can be detained when the government has explicitly stated that its reason for detaining them is not because of their visa stays, but is because of their relationship to their husband/father.'
In fact, the family had been set for expedited removal following Soliman's attack, which would allow immigration officials to remove them without a hearing before an immigration judge.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noted at the time that her agency was 'investigating to what extent [Soliman's] family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.'
However, El Gamal has not been charged with any wrongdoing, Lee notes.
'The government can't detain individuals for unlawful purposes,' he said, as a federal judge approved his request to extend a temporary restraining order issued by a different judge on June 4.
Biden-appointed US District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher ruled at the time that deporting them without adequate process could cause 'irreparable harm.'
The order has now been extended for another 14 days, during which the family is expected to have an immigration hearing.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
My name is Hayam El Gamal. My five children and I are in total shock over what they say my husband did in Boulder, Colorado earlier this month. So many lives were ruined on that day.
There is never an excuse for hurting innocent people. We have been cooperating with the authorities, who are trying their best to get to the bottom of this. We send our love to the many families who are suffering as a result of the attack.
My kids and I were arrested by ICE on June 3, put on a flight to Texas in the middle of the night and have now been in an immigration jail in Texas for two weeks. This includes my two four-year-old children, my seven-year-old, my fifteen-year-old, and my oldest daughter, who just turned eighteen in jail. We are grieving, and we are suffering. We are treated like animals by the officers, who told us we are being punished for what my husband is accused of doing. But why punish me? Why punish my four-year-old children? Why punish any of us, who did nothing wrong?
Since coming to America three years ago, we have tried to do everything right. We got work permits. We learned English. My daughter and I volunteered teaching English to other immigrants, to help them become more comfortable in America. We have always tried to be good neighbors, cooking food for those around us regardless of whether they are Muslim, Christian or Jewish. I do not judge anyone based on his religion. If your heart is good, that's enough.
All I want is to give my children good lives. My oldest daughter volunteered at a hospital; she has a 4.5 GPA and wants to become a doctor, to help people in this country. My kids want to go to school, they want to see their friends and deal with their grief from recent weeks. But here they can't sleep. They cry throughout the day, asking me, 'When will we get to go home?'
When we were first detained, my children were forced to watch officials rough-up another detainee, and they cried and cried, thinking they would be roughed-up, too. Now my seven-year-old is about to have her birthday in jail, and my fifteen-year-old, too. All they want is to be home, to be in school, to have privacy, to sleep in their own beds, to have their mother make them a home-cooked meal, to help them grieve and get through these terrible weeks. But instead, we are here, in jail in Texas, where you can't be human. Where you are always being watched.
Where you are woken up in the middle of the night by guards and given food fit for animals.
Only mothers can truly understand what we are going through. I did everything for my kids. It has been two weeks in jail, how much longer will we be here for something we didn't do? How much longer until the damage to my children is irreversible? It has been so hard for me to stay strong for my kids. I'm so tired. I ask the American people, with all my heart, to please listen to our story and help us.