SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of Hayam El Gamal and her five children, who have been detained by immigration authorities in Dilley, Texas, for more than 10 months — longer than any other family detained there under the administration’s mass deportation program.
El Gamal’s ex-husband, the children’s father, has been charged in a deadly anti-Semitic firebombing in Colorado. The children are aged 5 to 18.
U.S. Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas ordered their release.
El Gamal’s lawyer, Eric Lee, told reporters he was “delighted” as he left the courtroom to go to the detention center where the family is being held. Lee said they’ll have to wear ankle monitors, but at least “they’ll be home.” As he rushed out of the elevator, he could be heard saying “we won” as he spoke into his cell phone.
Christopher Godshall-Bennett, who represented Habiba Soliman, 18, El Gamal’s eldest child, said after the ruling that “children should not be in prison.”
“It’s really encouraging to see that there’s still some justice,” a visibly emotional Godshall-Bennett said, adding that they had been “so close” to coming out several times over the past few months.
Monday, a federal magistrate recommended the family’s release “under conditions sufficient to guarantee their participation in future removal procedures. »
Following Monday’s recommendation for their release, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News that “the judge wants to release this terrorist’s family back onto America’s streets. Under President Trump, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of those who have no right to be in our country, particularly for threats to national security.”
El Gamal and her children have been in detention since June, following the arrest of her ex-husband Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45. charged with multiple counts in connection with June attack in Boulder on a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. At least 14 people were injured in the attack and a woman died weeks later.
El Gamal, who divorced Soliman after his arrest, condemned the attack and said the family knew nothing of his alleged plans.
El Gamal’s lawyer, Eric Lee recently filed court documents seeking the family’s release, highlighting El Gamal’s recent visit to the emergency room and a lump in his chest that causes “excruciating” pain. Several doctors commissioned by Lee to independently review El Gamal’s medical records recommended that she undergo additional tests for cancer, autoimmune diseases and heart problems and expressed concerns about her health.
Biery’s order is not the first time the administration has been tasked with freeing the family. An immigration judge granted family bail, allowing them to leave detention on $15,000 bail on September 19, 2025. But the administration used various legal maneuvers to prevent their release.
The administration attempted to immediately deport the family after Soliman’s arrest, with the White House saying in a social media post that six one-way tickets for “Mohammed’s wife and five children. The final boarding call is coming soon.”
But a federal judge stopped the deportation, saying El Gamal and his children could not be deported immediately because they had been in the country for more than two years.
The family has spoken openly about the conditions inside the Dilley Detention Center, designated a Family Detention Center. Drawings of the children and letters from them and El Gamal were released to the media and provided to Congress.
In a March 9 letter to U.S. senators, El Gamal said the family’s religious beliefs were not taken into account. She and her eldest daughter were not safe from men they did not know, she said, and halal food was not served.
DHS has previously called allegations of poor care “the mainstream media is lying” and said parents and children are “housed in facilities that ensure their safety, security and medical needs.”
The agency also previously said families had access to a full medical staff, including a pediatrician, and described that care as “the best health care” some inmates have received “in their entire lives.”
