Colorado: Federal judge blocks deportation of family of Boulder terror suspect's family

A federal judge issued a ruling Thursday barring the Trump administration from deporting the wife and five children of Mohamad Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian national suspected of throwing two Molotov cocktail bombs at a gathering of Israel supporters in Boulder, Colorado, last Sunday.

Judge Gordon P. Gallagher of the District of Colorado ordered that the family not be removed from the state or the United States until the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issues a final ruling.

“[The] Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm, and an order must issue without notice," Gallagher wrote in his decision. 

For its part, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had detained the family earlier this week and was preparing them for deportation, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement issued Wednesday.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the family was arrested as part of the investigation into the attack to determine whether they had knowledge of or provided support for Soliman's actions.

Noem noted that DHS is "investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it." However, the court ruling has temporarily halted any deportation action.

The case attracted attention after a social media post by the White House on Tuesday, which announced that the family "may be deported tonight" and added: "Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon,” accompanied by an emoji of an airplane.

Soliman, who was residing illegally in the United States after his visa expired, was arrested shortly after the attack in Boulder, where he firebombed an event aimed at raising awareness of the Israeli hostage situation in the Gaza Strip.