SAN ANTONIO, Texas — According to the attorney for the six-member family of Mohamed Sabri Soliman, the group was re-detained by ICE on Saturday after their release earlier in the week as a result of a federal judge’s decision. According to a social media post by the family’s counsel, Michigan-based Immigration Attorney Eric Lee, ICE said, “Deportation is imminent.” Within hours, Lee says the deportation flight turned around after a federal judge issued an emergency stay.
On Thursday, Federal District Judge Bred Biery had ordered the release of the six-member family of Mohamed Sabri Soliman, an Egyptian national, who is currently facing 184 criminal charges related to a firebomb attack that killed one in Boulder, Colorado. The ruling handed down by Biery in San Antonio ordered ICE to release the family members who had been detained in Dilley, Texas, since June 2025.
The family of six includes Hayam Salah Alsaid Ahmed El Gamal, the 41-year-old Egyptian citizen married to Soliman, two minor sons, and three minor daughters. All are citizens of Egypt who arrived in the United States in August 2022. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), they were granted entry until February 26, 2023, after Soliman filed for asylum, listing the six-member family as his dependents in Denver, Colorado.
The White House signaled the removal of the family would be a speedy process in a social media post on X shortly after the family’s detention. The post carried the simple message, “Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon.”
According to a statement by DHS, Soliman was admitted during the Biden administration on a valid visa but failed to exit the United States and overstayed the visa violating the conditions of his admission. The family was initially detained for removal from the United States after Soliman was arrested for viciously attacking a peaceful group of people during a weekly solidarity march in support of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to an FBI statement, witnesses say Soliman attacked the group with a makeshift flamethrower and an incendiary device as he shouted, “Free Palestine.” Eight victims were injured in the attack, including four women and four men, who were taken to Denver hospitals after the incident. One victim later died of injuries sustained during the terrorist attack. Soliman has pleaded not guilty to more than 180 state and federal crimes related to the attack.
El Gamal family attorney Lee issued a plea in a brief social media post on Saturday morning, but offered few details about the latest development in the family’s removal. Lee’s statement reads, “THE EL GAMAL FAMILY WAS REDETAINED BY ICE MOMENTS AGO. ICE SAYS DEPORTATION IS IMMINENT. PLEASE ACTIVATE YOUR CONTACTS TO STOP THIS TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE FROM TAKING PLACE.”
Within hours, Lee updated his followers on X in a Saturday afternoon post that read, “Federal Court grants our Emergency Motion stopping Trump from illegally deporting El Gamal family. The plane is landing in Michigan in an hour. It constitutionally cannot be allowed to take off.”
Lee issued a lengthier statement on behalf of the El Gamal family, comparing the re-detaining of the family to a kidnapping, saying, 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.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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