Hayam El Gamal and her five children were released Thursday evening after nearly 10 months at an ICE family detention center in Texas, following a federal judge’s order that also barred their deportation. Two days later, while back in Colorado for a required ICE check-in, the family was re-detained, told they were being deported to Egypt and placed on a plane, according to their lawyers.
ICE had sought to remove the family after El Gamal’s then-husband, Mohammed Soliman, was charged in June 2025 with attempted murder in an alleged attack that used molotov cocktails against protesters in Colorado who were demonstrating in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza. El Gamal and her children have said they were unaware of his actions. Soliman faces separate federal hate-crime charges and remains in custody.
Attorneys for the family say the midweek re-detainment and the rushed removal attempt violated the Texas court’s order. They filed emergency motions in federal courts in multiple jurisdictions. In rapid rulings, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in Texas and U.S. District Judge Nina Wang in Colorado again ordered that the government may not deport the family. Lawyers said the jet carrying the family reversed course during the flight and returned them to Denver late Saturday.
The family’s lead attorney, Chris Godshall-Bennett, said the children were “horrified” and described the episode as a grave violation of the court’s orders, charging that the government acted beyond legal bounds. The lawyers argue the attempted removal reflects collective punishment for the alleged acts of Soliman rather than routine immigration enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security did not confirm the re-detainment or directly address whether the Texas court order was violated. In a statement to NPR, DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis characterized Soliman as responsible for an anti‑Semitic firebombing in Boulder, said the family had received due process and noted a final order of removal dated December 29, 2025. The statement also criticized the judge who ordered the family released and said the administration would continue efforts to deport “terrorists and their associates.”
El Gamal and her children entered the United States on tourist visas in 2022 and filed for asylum before those visas expired. Their initial asylum application was pending when Soliman was charged; an immigration judge later denied that request. While detained, the family submitted a second asylum application. The administration has said it will investigate whether any family members knew of Soliman’s alleged plans, but El Gamal and the children have not been charged in connection with the attack. El Gamal has since divorced Soliman.
Before their release from the Texas facility, El Gamal’s eldest daughter, Habiba, described the family’s physical and emotional decline after 10 months in custody and said they had renounced ties to Soliman and stopped using his last name. The family’s lawyers say they will continue litigating to secure the family’s right to remain in the United States.