DENVER, Colo. — A Texas-based immigration judge has ordered the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release the detained family of the man accused of carrying out the Boulder terror attack last year.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery on Wednesday approved the release of Hayam El Gamal, the wife of suspected attacker Mohammed Soliman, and the couple’s five children, as long as they appear at future immigration hearings.
A follow‑up hearing is set for Thursday in a San Antonio courtroom to determine whether both sides will accept the order.
The family has been detained for more than 10 months at an immigration detention center in Texas, after an ICE raid at the family’s Colorado Springs home a day after the June 1, 2025, fatal firebombing attack in Boulder.
The family was detained for 'expedited removal,' per the White House, but court petitions have delayed the process.
In a statement to Scripps News Denver, the family’s attorney, Eric Lee, argued that ICE’s continued detention violates the Constitution. “A federal court has determined ICE’s prolonged detention of this family violates the Constitution.
Nevertheless, ICE has not yet released the family,” he said, urging the agency to act immediately.
Meanwhile, Scripps News Denver has reached out to ICE officials and is awaiting a reply.
Federal authorities say Soliman, 46, an Egyptian national, has been living illegally in the U.S. with his family. He faces murder, attempted murder, and 12 federal hate crime charges in the Boulder attack, which killed one and injured seven on the Pearl Street Mall.
Investigators allege Soliman, disguised as a gardener, threw Molotov cocktails at a group peacefully demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages. Authorities say he confessed to the attack in custody.
As court proceedings continue, Soliman remains in custody at the Boulder County Jail.
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