A United States federal court has blocked the Trump administration from deporting a woman and her five children after they were re-detained hours after returning home from a 10-month detention.
The El Gamal family — Hayam El Gamal and her children, aged five to 18 — were released earlier this week following a judge's order, marking the longest known family detention during Trump's second term. But on Saturday, immigration authorities again took them into custody in Colorado and moved to deport them swiftly, according to their lawyer Eric Lee.
"The Trump administration has kidnapped the El Gamal family in violation of a federal court order from the Western District of Texas, which ordered them Thursday not to detain or remove the family from the United States," the family's legal team said in a statement shared by Lee.
Lee added that US District Judge Fred Biery, who ordered the initial release, granted an emergency order on Saturday barring their removal.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The administration has at times ignored court orders blocking deportations, pushing a hardline approach that critics say violates legal constraints.
The family was originally detained after Hayam's former husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, attacked a group in Boulder, Colorado, in June 2025, killing an 82-year-old woman. Soliman's family condemned the attack and denied prior knowledge; an FBI agent testified there was no evidence the family was aware of the plan. They have not been charged with any crime.
Their nearly yearlong detention has been labeled by lawyers and lawmakers as an illegal and cruel punishment for an act they did not commit. After Soliman's arrest, the White House posted on X: "Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon."
The family's lawyers say they are applying for asylum after entering the US from Egypt on tourist visas. They also report deteriorating health and denied medical care; El Gamal was hospitalized in April due to an untreated growth on her chest.
US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said in a statement: "If, despite the judge’s recommendation, the Department of Homeland Security still objects to the release of an innocent woman and her five children, we know exactly why that is the case. It is not because they present any danger to the community or a flight risk. It is because they are immigrants – Arab Muslim immigrants at that."