US wants to shift Indian’s case, but judge sceptical

AP Alexandria (US)

The Trump administration told a federal judge on Thursday that a Georgetown scholar's lawsuit against deportation should be moved from Virginia, where it was filed, to Texas, where he's jailed over allegations of "spreading Hamas propaganda."   

US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles seemed sceptical of the government's request, which would involve her dismissing the case in Virginia. She raised concerns that a dismissal in her court would void her order in March to keep Badar Khan Suri, an Indian citizen, in the US while his First Amendment case plays out.

Khan Suri, an Indian citizen, came to the US in 2022 through a J-1 visa, working at Georgetown University as a visiting scholar and postdoctoral fellow. He and Mapheze Saleh have three children: a 9-year-old son and 5-year-old twins. 

David Byerley, a Justice Department attorney, told Giles that he would need to talk to US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement about the judge’s concern. Byerley said he didn't see why ICE wouldn’t honour her order against deporting Khan Suri while the case is refiled in a Texas federal court.  Trump cuts funding to PBS and NPR President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged "bias" in the broadcasters' reporting.

The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies "to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS" and further requires that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organisations.  The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets "receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'"