A Texas federal judge has ordered the release of a woman and five children who spent more than 10 months in immigration detention, the longest family confinement under Donald Trump's second term. The order came Thursday following their lawyer's request and was granted by US District Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas.
Hayam El Gamal and her children, ranging in age from 5 to 18, were taken into federal custody in June after a firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado. Her ex-husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged in connection with the incident, which targeted a gathering commemorating Israeli hostages. An 82-year-old woman injured in the attack later died.
El Gamal has since divorced Soliman and publicly condemned the attack. Her legal team maintained she and the children had no foreknowledge of his plans and were detained unlawfully. The family had been held at Dilley detention center in southwest Texas, a facility known for housing immigrant families.
As conditions of release, El Gamal and her eldest child, 18-year-old Habiba Soliman, must wear ankle monitors. The rest of the family was released without such restrictions.
The Department of Homeland Security pushed back sharply against the judge's decision, characterizing it as coming from an "activist judge" and accusing the court of "releasing this terrorist's family onto American streets." The agency said federal agents were investigating what the family knew about the attack and claimed they provided appropriate medical care and due process.
The family's attorneys painted a different picture. They detailed health crises during confinement, including El Gamal experiencing "excruciating pain" this month that required an emergency room visit where a CT scan revealed fluid around her heart. All five children were reported to be suffering from depression.
Eric Lee, the family's lawyer, announced their freedom in a statement Thursday: "The El Gamal family is free."
Author James Rodriguez: "A decade-long family detention that produced no charges against the mother or children should never have lasted this long, judge or no judge."
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