ICE Rearrests Egyptian Family of Six After Texas Judge Pauses Deportation

An Egyptian family of six—Hayam El Gamal and her five children aged 5 to 18—was taken back into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Saturday after a Texas federal judge ordered a pause of their deportation, according to multiple reports.

“- Mohammed Sabry Soliman faces federal charges over a June 2025 attack on a group rallying in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas HOUSTON, Texas: US immigration agents on Saturday detained the family of an Egyptian man accused of firebombing a Jewish protest, days after their release from nearly 10 months in custody, their lawyer said”

Arab News

The Texas Tribune described a flight carrying the family to Michigan that “abruptly turned around” after a Texas judge ruled the six should “remain in the U.S. pending further litigation.”

San Antonio Express-News

The same report said the family was believed to be the longest held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley and that a second order by a federal judge in Colorado reiterated that the family should not be deported.

The Guardian similarly said the family was taken back into ICE custody “days after they were released from a detention facility in Texas on Thursday,” citing attorney Eric Lee.

In Colorado, the Colorado Sun reported that ICE rearrested the family “Saturday morning,” after they returned to Colorado Springs following their release Thursday evening from Dilley Immigration Processing Center.

The dispute over what happens next is immediate: the Texas Tribune said the government planned to deport them to Egypt, while the Colorado Sun reported that ICE put the family on a plane headed for Detroit’s Willow Run Airport with plans to move them “outside the United States to an unknown location.”

The legal fight described by the Texas Tribune and Texas Public Radio centered on emergency appeals and competing federal orders issued on Saturday.

The Texas Tribune said a Texas federal judge ruled that the family “should not immediately be deported” after immigration agents “suddenly re-arrested the mother and her children hours earlier,” and it said a second order by a federal judge in Colorado was issued Saturday evening reiterating the pause.

Texas Public Radio

It also said the rulings came while the family was on a plane to Michigan, and it quoted Michigan-based attorney Eric Lee posting on X: “constitutionally cannot be allowed to take off.”

Texas Public Radio repeated the same sequence, saying the family was on a plane to Michigan “from where the government ostensibly planned to quickly deport them to Egypt,” and it again quoted Lee: “constitutionally cannot be allowed to take off.”

The Colorado Sun added that on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered the family to return to their Colorado Springs home as their immigration proceedings continue, requiring El Gamal and her 18-year-old daughter Habiba to wear electronic monitors and the family to comply with “reasonable” reporting requirements.

The Colorado Sun also described a last-minute attempt to deport the family before a hearing, and it said Biery halted that attempt, with Lee posting a screenshot of an emergency order stating: “This court hereby ORDERS that the removal of the petitioners from the United States and from the District of Colorado is STAYED.”

Later Saturday, the Colorado Sun reported that a second federal judge, Nina Wang of U.S. District Court in Denver, issued another order barring deportation, according to a screenshot Lee posted to X.

Even with those orders, the family’s custody status changed again within hours, as the Colorado Sun said ICE rearrested them after they returned to Colorado Springs and after a required check-in at an ICE field office.

The family’s detention and attempted deportation are linked in the reporting to the case of Mohamed Sabry Soliman, Hayam El Gamal’s ex-husband, who was charged after an attack in Boulder, Colorado.

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The Texas Tribune said the family has been detained since June after Soliman was charged with attacking “mostly Jewish protesters in Boulder, Colorado,” accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages, and it said he allegedly wounded at least 29 people and that an 82-year-old woman died from her injuries.

The Guardian likewise said Soliman was arrested in June 2025 in connection to an attack in which federal authorities said he threw “molotov cocktails into a crowd” at an event drawing awareness to hostages in Gaza, and it said the firebombing attack injured more than a dozen people, including an 82-year-old woman who later died.

Arab News described the same general allegations and said Soliman faces federal charges over a June 2025 attack on a group rallying in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, adding that Soliman allegedly targeted the protest in Boulder, Colorado with Molotov cocktails and an improvised flamethrower.

The Colorado Sun said the family was detained in Dilley since last June when the father was charged with murder and hate crimes, among other charges, in the attack on mostly Jewish protesters outside the Boulder County courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall.

It also said the family immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt and had a pending asylum case, and it reported that they were working and going to school in Colorado Springs, where they have lived since 2022.

Multiple outlets also reported that the family’s legal team and the family members have said they had no advance knowledge of the attack, with the Colorado Sun stating that “Family members of Soliman have repeatedly said they had no advance knowledge of the attack, and the FBI said it had no evidence they were involved.”

The reporting shows sharp conflict between the family’s attorneys and the Department of Homeland Security over whether the government followed due process and respected court orders.

Eric Lee, the family’s attorney, posted on X that “THE EL GAMAL FAMILY WAS REDETAINED BY ICE MOMENTS AGO,” and he added “ICE SAYS DEPORTATION IS IMMINENT,” according to Arab News.

The Guardian

The same outlet quoted Lee’s earlier framing of the legal dispute as a constitutional breach, saying the family’s attorney posted that the flight “constitutionally” should not be permitted to take off and that “stop this travesty of justice from taking place.”

The Texas Tribune quoted Lee as saying the “attempt to remove the El Gamal family is in violation of a federal court order and must be halted immediately,” and it said he added that “The rights of the entire population and the most basic principles of separation of powers are at stake.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, an Austin Democrat, posted on X that “This is outrageous and undermines the rights of every American,” and he said that if the administration can “ignore a court order to go after this family, anyone could be next.”

On the other side, the Department of Homeland Security did not directly address questions about the rearrest but reiterated in a statement attributed to Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis that the family received “full due process,” and it said, “We are confident the courts will ultimately vindicate us.”

The Colorado Sun reported that Bis said “Despite receiving full due process, this activist judge appointed by Bill Clinton is releasing this terrorist’s family onto American streets AGAIN,” and it said Bis did not address why officials attempted to deport the family Saturday despite Biery’s order Thursday.

The Guardian also quoted Lee describing the situation as “an absolutely brazen violation of separation of powers,” and it said the spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security could not immediately be reached for comment.

Beyond the Saturday re-arrest, the sources describe the family’s earlier detention at Dilley and allegations about medical care and living conditions.

“Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Southern Texas, where Hayam El-Gamal’s family is held”

teleSUR English

The Texas Tribune said the family received widespread attention after the mother and her children began publicly raising alarms about the treatment at the facility, including “medical neglect, rotting food, impotable water, and disrespect for their Muslim faith.”

The Texas Tribune

The Guardian similarly said Dilley had been scrutinized following reports of “inadequate medical care and rotting or bug-infested food,” and it described an episode in which El Gamal had been experiencing “excruciating pain” and an ER doctor’s recommendation for an ultrasound was denied.

The Guardian also reported that the lawyers said the family’s five-year-old child was not able to see a dentist to address “13 cavities,” and that when El Gamal’s 16-year-old son had acute appendicitis, he was instructed to take Tylenol as a remedy.

The Texas Tribune said last week lawyers said the mother was rushed to the emergency room after months of suffering from an unidentified bump, which she feared may be cancerous due to her family history and possibly heightened by the lack of medical care at the detention center.

The Colorado Sun added more detail about the court-ordered conditions after release, saying Biery required electronic monitors for El Gamal and her 18-year-old daughter Habiba and “reasonable” reporting requirements to immigration authorities.

It also said the family was taken into custody in Denver after complying with a required check-in at an ICE field office, and it reported that an estimated 60 people gathered at City Hall in Colorado Springs to draw attention to the family’s rearrest and demand their release.