Judge blocks deportation of Colorado attacker’s family

A federal judge has ordered the government to immediately halt deportation proceedings against the family of a man charged in a firebombing attack against a pro-Israel group in Boulder, Colorado, to ensure the protection of the family’s constitutional rights.

US District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher grants a request from the wife and five children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who are Egyptian, to block their deportation. US immigration officials took the family into custody Tuesday, a day after the attack on a group rallying for the return of hostages held in Gaza.

Soliman, 45, has been charged with a federal hate crime and state counts of attempted murder in Sunday’s attack in downtown Boulder. Witnesses say he threw two Molotov cocktails at the group, injuring 15. Authorities say he confessed to the attack in custody, and said he had planned it for a year.

His family members have not been charged.

Federal authorities have said Soliman has been living in the US illegally, and US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said earlier Wednesday that the family was being processed for removal.

It’s rare that a criminal suspect’s family members are detained and threatened with deportation.

“It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives,” attorneys for the family write in the lawsuit.

Eric Lee, one of the attorney’s representing the family, argued efforts to deport them should not happen in a democracy.

“The punishment of a four-year-old child for something their parent allegedly did, who also has a presumption of innocence, is something that should outrage Americans regardless of their citizenship status,” he says.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin describes the plaintiff’s claims as “absurd” and “an attempt to delay justice.”

“Just like her criminal husband, she and her children are here illegally and are rightfully in ICE custody for removal as a result,” she says in a statement.