Lawyers reported that the US federal authorities re-detained an Egyptian family on Saturday after they were released last week based on a judicial order following their detention for more than 10 months in an immigration center. The administration of US President Donald Trump defends his strict immigration campaign as necessary to reduce illegal immigration and reduce crime rates.

Published on: 04/26/2026 - 09:04

The legal team of an Egyptian family reported in a statement on Saturday that Hiyam El-Gamal and her five children, aged between five and 18, were detained less than 48 hours after a federal judge issued an order for their release.

The Colorado Sun newspaper said that the family, who lives in Colorado, was arrested when they went to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Denver to implement a mandatory procedure.

The legal team representing the family stated that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency put the family on a plane that was going to take off for Michigan "and then outside the United States to an unknown location." Eric Lee, one of the family's lawyers, later said that a federal court had granted an emergency request to stop the deportation.

"Due legal procedures"

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said that the family was being dealt with in accordance with “full due legal procedures” and described the judge who ordered her release as “an activist judge... who releases the family of this terrorist onto the streets of America.”

Authorities arrested the family for the first time in June. Her detention in the immigration center, the longest for a family during the administration of President Donald Trump, came after Hiyam's ex-husband, Mohamed Sabri Suleiman, was charged with attempted murder, assault, and a federal hate crime following a firebomb attack that occurred last year in Boulder, Colorado.

Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Lauren Pace, said, "We are confident that the courts will ultimately acquit us."

The statement did not address the reason for the family's detention on Saturday after the ruling was issued on Thursday.

Hiyam Al-Jamal and her children were released on Thursday after a judge ordered their release following a similar separate ruling issued earlier in the week.

The US government had previously stated that it was investigating the extent of the family's knowledge about the attack. Hiyam, who obtained a divorce from Suleiman after his arrest, denounced the Boulder attack and said that the family was not aware of any plans to carry it out.

It is noteworthy that Trump defends his strict campaign on immigration as necessary to reduce illegal immigration and reduce crime rates. Critics and human rights organizations say the Department of Homeland Security's campaign violates due process and freedom of expression.

France 24/Reuters

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