U.S. judge issues order stopping the deportation of Boulder suspect's family [View all]

Source: NBC News/AP

June 4, 2025, 4:55 PM EDT / Source: The Associated Press


BOULDER, Colo. — A federal judge issued an order Wednesday to prevent the deportation of the wife and five children of an Egyptian man charged in the firebombing attack in Boulder, Colorado. U.S. District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher granted a request from the family of Mohamed Sabry Soliman to halt deportation proceedings of his wife and five children who were taken into federal custody Tuesday by U.S. immigration officials.

The family members have not been charged in the attack on a group demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Soliman faces federal hate crime charges and state charges of attempted murder in the Sunday attack in downtown Boulder. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Wednesday that they are being processed for removal proceedings. It’s rare that family members of a person accused of a crime are detained and threatened with deportation.

Soliman’s wife, 18-year-old daughter, two minor sons and two minor daughters all are Egyptian citizens, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it,” Noem said in a statement.

Noem also said federal authorities will immediately crack down on people who overstay their visas in response to the Boulder attack. Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his planned attack, according to court documents that, at times, spelled his name as “Mohammed.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-judge-issues-order-stopping-deportation-boulder-suspects-family-rcna211043