An Egyptian family that was released from an immigration detention center in Texas last week was again taken into custody in Denver on Saturday morning — before being released later that day — in what the family’s lawyer argued was an extraordinary violation of judicial orders.
Hayam El Gamal and her five children were detained in June after Ms. El Gamal’s husband was charged in a firebombing attack in Boulder, Colo.
The family, who had first come to the United States from Egypt on tourist visas in 2022, fought for their release, arguing that they knew nothing about the husband’s plans and were being held in violation of their constitutional rights.
On Thursday, a federal judge ordered that Ms. El Gamal and her five children be released from the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, about 75 miles southwest of San Antonio, as they await a decision on their asylum case.
Two days later, when they appeared for a check-in on Saturday morning, Ms. El Gamal and her five children were taken into custody in Denver and flown to Detroit, said Eric Lee, the family’s lawyer. Hours later, the family flew back to Denver, but their fate in the country was uncertain.
Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that Ms. El Gamal and her children had been issued a final order of removal in December 2025. She said the family appealed the order and the board of immigration appeals upheld the removal order.
“Despite receiving full due process, this activist judge appointed by Bill Clinton is releasing this terrorist’s family onto American streets again,” Ms. Bis said, referring to Judge Fred Biery of the Federal District Court in San Antonio, who ordered the family’s release on Thursday.
Ms. Bis did not confirm that the family had been detained on Saturday, though she said that the department would “continue to fight for the removal of those who have no right to be in our country.”
Ms. El Gamal and her children, who range in age from 5 to 18, were detained in June after Ms. El Gamal’s husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged with throwing Molotov cocktails during an event in Boulder honoring hostages held in Gaza.
Ms. El Gamal and her children were not charged with any crimes. Ms. El Gamal divorced her husband and has not maintained contact with him, her lawyer said.
Mr. Soliman, who is in federal custody, faces federal hate crime charges and state charges of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. Thirteen people were wounded in the attack, including eight who were hospitalized with burns and other injuries, and one victim died of her wounds later that month.
Dilley is the primary federal immigration facility for housing families. Detainees have reported deplorable conditions there, including rotten food, inadequate medical care and little education for children.
Judge Biery ordered the release of the family on Thursday after lawyers argued that Ms. El Gamal and her children had been held in violation of their constitutional rights. The family members then returned to Colorado, where they had been living since they arrived in the country from Egypt.
They were granted entry until February 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In September 2022, Mr. Soliman applied for asylum, listing his wife and five children as dependents. The application was pending when the family was detained. Ms. El Gamal and her children resubmitted their asylum claims separately from Mr. Soliman after they were detained.
On Saturday, two days after their release, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Ms. El Gamal and her children and put them on a private plane to Detroit, according to Mr. Lee, who said he filed emergency petitions asking a judge to adhere to the earlier court orders and block the family’s deportation.
By Saturday afternoon, Mr. Lee had posted on social media what appeared to be a flight map showing that the family’s flight was returning to Denver. “We are told the family will be released, but we don’t trust a word they say,” Mr. Lee wrote.
“This is an extremely concerning situation,” Mr. Lee said in an interview on Saturday.
Both Judge Biery and Judge Nina Y. Wang of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on Saturday ordered that the El Gamal family not be removed from the country.
The family had been freed again by the end of the day.
“ICE just released the El Gamal family,” Mr. Lee wrote on social media.
Madeleine Ngo contributed reporting.
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
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