Lawyers Say El Gamal Family Detained by Trump Administration Hours After Returning From 10-Month Detention

Lawyers for the El Gamal family say immigration authorities detained the Egyptian mother and her five children hours after they returned home from a 10-month detention period, marking what attorneys describe as the longest family immigration detention under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Hayam El Gamal and her children, aged between five and 18, were released earlier in the week following a federal court order from the Western District of Texas that prohibited their detention or removal from the United States. Their lawyers stated the family had been held for the longest duration of any known family during Trump’s second term in office.

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.

Statement from the family lawyers, shared by lawyer Eric Lee

The re-arrest occurred just days after the family’s return to their home in Colorado. According to their legal team, immigration agents detained Hayam El Gamal and her five children on Saturday and sought to swiftly deport them despite the existing court order blocking such action.

The attempt to remove the El Gamal family is in violation of a federal court order and must be halted immediately.

Family lawyers’ statement

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.

Statement from the family lawyers, shared by lawyer Eric Lee

The attempt to remove the El Gamal family is in violation of a federal court order and must be halted immediately.

Family lawyers’ statement

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who had ordered the family’s initial release on Thursday, granted an emergency order on Saturday barring their removal after learning of the re-arrest. A second federal judge in Colorado issued a similar order later that evening, reiterating that the family should not be deported.

The rulings came as the family was aboard a flight bound for Michigan, from where the government had ostensibly planned to quickly deport them to Egypt. Their attorneys said the mother and her children fear persecution in Egypt, which informed the legal arguments against removal.

The family’s legal team argued in an emergency request to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that halting their deportation was necessary to uphold judicial authority over executive immigration actions. They cited concerns about the administration’s disregard for court orders in immigration matters.

Among the most well-known cases referenced by advocates is that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of El Salvador, who was mistakenly sent to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador despite an earlier U.S. Court order barring his deportation. His case drew global criticism, although he has since returned to the U.S., with litigation ongoing.

The El Gamal family’s detention and re-arrest have intensified scrutiny over the balance of power between the executive branch and the judiciary in U.S. Immigration enforcement, particularly regarding adherence to federal court rulings on deportation proceedings.