Judge urges family held at Texas detention center since June be released

Source: NBC News

April 20, 2026, 7:25 PM EDT / Updated April 20, 2026, 10:20 PM EDT


A federal magistrate on Monday recommended the release of a mother and five children who have been detained longer than any other family in a Texas immigration detention center. They have been held since the arrest of the children’s father nearly a year ago after an anti-semitic firebombing attack in Colorado.

U.S. Magistrate Eilzabeth “Betsy” Chestney reviewed the petition for release, known as a habeus corpus petition, filed by Hayman El Gamal and her five children and recommended to U.S. District Judge Fred Biery that they be released “under conditions sufficient to ensure their participation at future removal proceedings.”

El Gamal and her children were detained in June after the arrest of her ex-husband Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45. He has been charged in connection with the attack in Boulder on a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The woman, who has divorced Soliman, has said that she and the children knew nothing about Soliman's alleged plans. The couple divorced after his arrest and his family's detention.

"We are hopeful and vindicated by this decision, however the government has not yet released this family and we are insisting it do so immediately,” said Eric Lee, the mother and children’s attorney. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday morning in San Antonio where the federal judge plans to consider the attorneys’ arguments along with Chestney’s recommendation.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-orders-family-held-texas-detention-center-june-released-rcna341099