SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
georgetown university
'We Won't Be Silent': 1,000+ Students Protest Trump's DC Takeover
"The students leading today's walkouts are showing the entire nation what it means to resist authoritarianism with strength and solidarity," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Sep 09, 2025
As US President Donald Trump expands his authoritarian takeovers of Democrat-led cities, more than 1,000 students from four universities in Washington, DC walked out to protest the Republican's recent actions in the nation's capital.
Students from American University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Howard University are protesting Trump's deployment of National Guard troops and federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), which have also provoked a lawsuit from DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb and a congressional resolution that aims to stop his takeover.
"Students are showing the country that we won't be silent while Trump tries to strip DC residents of our rights," American University student organizer Asher Heisten said in a statement circulated Tuesday by the youth-led Sunrise Movement.
"When Trump sends federal forces into DC, he is trying to intimidate and silence us," Heisten continued. "But students are proving that we will fight back to reject Trump's dangerous authoritarianism."
The students were joined by a pair of progressive lawmakers, US Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
"Trump's federal takeover is a direct attack on democracy and the people of Washington, DC," Jayapal said in a statement. "The students leading today's walkouts are showing the entire nation what it means to resist authoritarianism with strength and solidarity."
The congresswoman told a crowd at Georgetown, her alma mater, that "this is an unprecedented moment in our country, where we have an authoritarian leader who is deploying federal troops to Washington, DC—to cities across the country, militarizing our streets, kidnapping people on the streets."
"The only bulwark that we have is the people, and so what you are doing here today is so important, because, at the end of the day, the checks and balances that were supposed to be built into our Constitution so that we could protect our constitutional rights are not working right now," she stressed, calling out Republicans in Congress and US Supreme Court justices for refusing to hold Trump accountable.
Acknowledging the thousands of protesters who marched to the White House on Saturday, Jayapal declared that "we are not powerless," a line that drew loud cheers from the crowd.
Markey, in his remarks at Georgetown, noted that when the president's supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in hopes of stopping the certification of his 2020 electoral loss, "Trump refused to send in troops."
"He allowed for that assault," Markey said of the attempted insurrection. "But now, here in DC, the president is attempting to create an impression that the crime rate is going up rather than down, that there is in fact a crisis here in the District of Columbia."
"And what he is doing, not just here in DC, but in Chicago, in LA, in Boston, is to try to characterize communities that are majority minority, that are majority Black and brown, as being unsafe to live," Markey noted. "And it's not a coincidence... It is to scare America. You cannot make America great again by making America hate again."
Markey argued that "this is not about policing, this is about political theater," and denounced Trump's DC takeover as a "charade."
Like the lawmakers, Georgetown student Scout Cardillo suggested that the DC takeover isn't just about the district. Cardillo told The Washington Post that "the effects of the occupation of DC and federalization of MPD is going to be felt throughout the country imminently, and it is on us to take a stand and fight back."
Keep ReadingShow Less
130+ Jewish Georgetown Community Members Oppose Attempted Deportation of Scholar Badar Khan Suri
"Making Jews the face of this autocratic initiative feeds antisemitic conspiracy theories and is dangerous for Jews, on campuses and beyond," says the public statement.
Apr 11, 2025
Over 130 Jewish Georgetown University alumni, students, faculty, and staff on Friday collectively spoke out against the Trump administration's attempt to deport postdoctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri and declared that "the growing wave of politically motivated campus deportation efforts is an authoritarian move that harms the entire campus community."
Khan Suri, an Indian national, was abducted by masked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents outside his home in Virginia last month—a scene similar to the arrests of other foreign students who have supported Palestinian rights or criticized the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which experts across the globe condemn as genocide.
"Despite having a valid visa, the agents detained Dr. Khan Suri and rapidly transferred him to a detention center in Louisiana and then Texas," explains Friday's joint statement. "Dr. Khan Suri is a valued member of the Georgetown community. In addition to the impact this has had on him, these events have terrified his students and colleagues, his wife, three young children, and parents, and his broader family and friends."
The statement says that "the political arrest, detention, and attempted deportation of Dr. Khan Suri and others across the U.S., including Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University Ph.D. candidate Rumeysa Ozturk, as well as the revocation of hundreds of student and work visas, are transgressions of civil liberties by the Trump administration and DHS that are commonly seen under authoritarian governments. This should alarm us all."
"The Trump administration is waging attacks on our spaces of learning, including by politically targeting, harassing, detaining and attempting to deport Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, international, and immigrant community members, all while claiming to do so in the name of Jewish safety," the statement continues, citing a White House social media post.
President Donald Trump "is weaponizing Jewish identity, faith, and fears of antisemitism as a smokescreen for his authoritarian agenda, further damaging the campus climate for everyone," the statement asserts. "Making Jews the face of this autocratic initiative feeds antisemitic conspiracy theories and is dangerous for Jews, on campuses and beyond. For multiple reasons, it is crucial that we as Jewish community members at Georgetown speak out and act against this, and we encourage Jews on and off campuses everywhere to do the same."
The statement calls for the immediate release of all who have been "unjustly detained" and an end to "all authoritarian actions" against campuses. It also urges elected officials as well as Jewish community leaders and institutions, including Hillel and the Anti-Defamation League, "to clearly and officially condemn and oppose these acts" by the federal government.
The statement—set to be published by the campus newspaper, The Hoya—also endorses the Georgetown administration's Jesuit commitment to "build an environment where all members of our community are free to express their thoughts" and that recognizes "the human dignity of all," and urges the university's leaders "to continue and strengthen these efforts."
Asked about the statement by NPR, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin responded, "Pretty absurd mental gymnastics to believe that revoking visas of individuals who glorify and support terrorists, harass Jews, and do the bidding of organizations that relish the killing of Americans and Jews, is in fact, making Jewish students less safe."
This is so telling. A bunch of Jewish students and faculty at Georgetown signed a letter protesting the arrest and detention of scholar Badar Khan Suri, saying it makes Jews less safe. The Trump administration responded saying, in short, "We know better than Jews on campus what makes Jews safe."
[image or embed]
— Joel S. (@joelhs.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The school is maintaining an official webpage for U.S. immigration policy and regulatory updates. The latest post, from Wednesday, states: "We are aware of approximately six community members who have had their immigration status terminated. The reasons given for such terminations are limited, and Georgetown University was not informed of them by the government."
For The Hoya's Thursday reporting on that update, the newspaper spoke with Nader Hashemi, director of the School of Foreign Service's Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, where Khan Suri was a postdoctoral researcher.
"Six lives have effectively been destroyed," Hashemi said. "I hope the university will live up to its pledges to support students in this difficult moment, particularly international students who've been affected."
"I think the university's statements and the communication has been very good so far," Hashemi added. "I think most faculty and students are basically happy with what the university has been doing, and I hope the university will continue to support students who have been unjustly and illegally targeted by this authoritarian regime that's empowered now in Washington."
The newspaper
reported Friday that students with a new protest group, the GU Student Coalition Against Repression, "planned to stage a sit-in in Healy Hall but moved outside the gates after Georgetown University Police Department (GUPD) officers forcibly removed them from Healy." The action was timed to coincide with the weekend during which potential students, admitted for the following academic year, visit campus.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Georgetown Academic 'Abducted by Masked DHS Agents' at Risk of Deportation
One of Badar Khan Suri's lawyers called the case "emblematic of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to suppress voices—citizens and noncitizens alike—who dare to speak out."
Mar 20, 2025
The Trump administration was accused of "abducting" a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, following reporting that Badar Khan Suri, who was studying and teaching at the school on a student visa, was arrested by masked immigration authorities on Monday night.
Following his arrest, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had determined that Suri's "activities and presence" in the United States "had rendered him deportable."
Agents who identified themselves as being with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested Suri, an Indian national, outside his home in Virginia, per Politico, which was first to report on Suri's arrest. The immigration officials told Suri that his student visa had been revoked, the outlet reported, citing court papers.
The news comes days after immigration agents arrested green-card holder Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University until this past December who was involved in pro-Palestine demonstrations on the school's campus last year. U.S. President Donald Trump said that Khalil's arrest would be the "first of many."
"Another student who's legally in the U.S. was arrested for deportation, without a crime—allegedly for opposing U.S. foreign policy," said Nancy Okail, the head of the Center for International Policy. "If this absurdity continues, it won't be limited to specific groups. Any form of opposition will be punished and criminalized."
Nermeen Arastu, a member of Suri's legal team and an associate professor of law at the City University of New York similarly told the outlet Drop Site, "Mr. Suri's case is emblematic of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to suppress voices—citizens and noncitizens alike—who dare to speak out against governmental policies."
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, wrote on X on Wednesday evening that Suri was "rendered deportable" under section of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
That is the same provision of immigration law that the Trump administration has invoked in its effort to Mahmoud Khalil.
"Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media," McLaughlin also said. In the post, she did not add anything to bolster this claim. McLaughlin also wrote that Suri has connections to a "known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior adviser to Hamas."
Suri has not been charged with a crime, per his lawyer's petition for a writ of "habeas corpus," or an order demanding that he be brought to court to determine if he is lawfully detained, according Politico.
Suri's petition, filed on Tuesday in federal court by his lawyer Hassan Ahmed, argues that his arrest violates his First and Fifth Amendment rights, according to Drop Site, and also "challenges the legality of his detention under U.S. immigration law."
Politico reported that "Suri is being punished because of the Palestinian heritage of his wife—who is a U.S. citizen—and because the government suspects that he and his wife oppose U.S. foreign policy toward Israel," citing the petition.
Drop Site reported that Suri is currently being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana, though it is reportedly not the same facility as where Mahmoud Khalil is currently located.
Suri's wife, Mapheze Saleh, is a Georgetown graduate student in the Walsh School of Foreign Service's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.
Her father, Ahmed Yousef, is a former adviser to the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated last year by Israeli security forces, according to The New York Times. Yousef told the Times that he departed his position as part of the Hamas-led government in Gaza over 10 years ago, and that his son-in-law is not involved in any "political activism." Yousef has also criticized Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, per the Times.
Drop Site reported that Suri's arrest came after pro-Israel groups targeted Saleh with an "exceptionally public media campaign." The petition notes that Saleh and Suri have been targeted online due to their support for Palestinian rights, per Politico.
In February, the group CAMERA on Campus—which according to its X account helps students share "accurate education" and "correct misinformation" about Israel on campus—called Saleh a "Hamas affiliate" and alleged she "glorifie[d]" Hamas on social media. Also in February, the outlet Jewish News Syndicate published an opinion piece alleging that Suri "repeatedly endorsed Hamas terror and actively spreads its propaganda."
On Wednesday night, a Georgetown University spokesperson issued the following statement: "Dr. Khan Suri is an Indian national who was duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention."
"We support our community members' rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly," the spokesperson wrote.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular