ICE frees El Gamal family after re-arresting mother, 5 children
ICE frees El Gamal family after re-arresting mother, 5 children
ICE frees El Gamal family after re-arresting mother, 5 children
A plane carrying the family to Michigan was reportedly on its way back to Colorado after a Texas federal judge ordered a halt to their deportation following his ruling that they be released.
Federal immigration authorities have released an Egyptian family that they had re-detained earlier Saturday, an attorney announced just after midnight.
The move came hours after a flight carrying the mother, Hayam El Gamal, and her five children to Michigan late Saturday abruptly turned around, following a Texas judge’s ruling that they should remain in the U.S. pending further litigation. The El Gamal family is believed to be the longest held at the controversial South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley.
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The family was initially detained last June after the father, who they said is estranged from them, was charged with hate crimes related to a 2025 attack in Colorado. The mother and children have not been charged with any crimes, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement first released them on Thursday.
U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery in San Antonio on Saturday ruled that the family should not immediately be deported after immigration agents suddenly re-arrested the mother and her children hours earlier. A second order by a federal judge in Colorado was issued Saturday evening, reiterating that the family should not be deported.
The rulings came as the family was on a plane to Michigan, from where the government ostensibly planned to quickly deport them to Egypt, where their attorneys said the mother and her children fear persecution.