US Judge Blocks Detention of British Campaigner Imran Ahmed Pending Hearing
US District Judge Vernon S. Broderick granted a temporary restraining order blocking the detention of Imran Ahmed and barred detention without a hearing, pending the case. Imran Ahmed is a British social media campaigner, founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and a US permanent resident. He and four others were denied US visas by the Trump administration for allegedly seeking to coerce platforms to censor free speech.
The visa denial drew backlash from European leaders defending online-content monitoring groups. Ahmed warned that detention would separate him from his American wife and child and filed a legal complaint against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pamela Bondi over the sanction decision. The State Department stated it is not obligated to allow foreign aliens to come to or reside in the United States.
Ahmed's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, argued that the government cannot deport a green-card holder with a US citizen family simply because it disagrees with his views. In 2023, the CCDH was sued by Elon Musk's X after reporting on hate speech on the platform; the case was dismissed but an appeal remains.
Ahmed said the CCDH has worked with administrations from both major parties and suspects he is targeted because the groups they study do not like being called out. He also suggested that tech and AI platforms may be influencing the actions.
