An Egyptian family that had been held in immigration detention for over 10 months was taken back into federal custody on Saturday, according to the family’s legal team, only hours after a federal judge ordered their release.
The detained family includes Hayam El Gamal and her five children, ages 5 to 18. Lawyers for the family say the re-detainment occurred less than 48 hours after a judge directed that they be freed. The family, who reside in Colorado, were arrested while following a requirement to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Denver.
The family’s attorneys said federal agents had placed the family on a flight that was scheduled to fly to Michigan and then "outside the United States to an unknown location." Their legal team stated that a federal court subsequently granted an emergency motion that stopped the planned deportation.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said the family was receiving "full due process." The department’s statement also characterized the judge who ordered the release as an "activist judge" and described the action as "releasing this terrorist’s family onto American streets AGAIN." The statement included a remark by the DHS’ acting assistant secretary, Lauren Bis: "We are confident the courts will ultimately vindicate us."
The DHS statement did not explain why the family was taken back into custody on Saturday after the prior court ruling on Thursday that led to their release. Lawyers for the family have said the re-detainment occurred as the family complied with routine reporting to ICE.
El Gamal and her children had been released from an earlier period of detention on Thursday after U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered their release, following a separate similar ruling earlier in the week. The family was first placed in federal custody last June.
Their detention - which lawyers describe as the longest for a family under the current presidential administration - began after prosecutors charged El Gamal’s ex-husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, with attempted murder, assault and a federal hate crime related to a firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado last year.
Federal authorities have said they are investigating what the family may have known about the attack. El Gamal, who divorced Soliman after his arrest, has publicly condemned the Boulder attack and stated that the family had no knowledge of any plans for it.
Public debate around immigration enforcement has escalated at the national level. Supporters of tougher enforcement point to the need to curb illegal immigration and to reduce crime, while critics and civil rights organizations argue that recent Department of Homeland Security measures infringe on due process protections and free speech.
Context and next steps
Legal filings and the emergency court action described by the family’s attorneys indicate that judicial intervention briefly halted a deportation that lawyers said had already been set in motion. As of the latest statements from the parties involved, the precise reasons for the Saturday re-detainment after the Thursday release order have not been detailed by DHS.
Lawyers for the family have secured at least one court order to stop the flight that would have removed the family from the United States, and the matter remains active in federal courts.