A man reads a note placed on a memorial at the scene of an attack that injured multiple people, outside the Boulder County Courthouse, in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. June 2, 2025.
Mark Makela | Reuters
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from deporting the wife and five children of Mohamed Soliman, the Egyptian national accused of attacking a group of demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, with a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails.
The order blocking the removal of Soliman’s family came a day after they were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents, and as the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE was processing the family for removal proceedings from the United States.
The White House’s official X account had tweeted about the family’s detention Tuesday, writing, “THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT.”
In his order in U.S. District Court in Colorado barring their deportation, Judge Gordon Gallagher wrote, “The Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must issue without notice due to the urgency this situation presents.”
Soliman’s wife is a 41-year-old Egyptian citizen. The couple, who live in Colorado, has an 18-year-old daughter, as well as two sons and two daughters who are all under age 18. The children are all Egyptian citizens.
No other member of Soliman’s family has been charged in connection with the attack.
The family entered the United States in late August 2022, and were allowed to remain in the U.S. through late February 2023. Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022, listing his family as dependents, according to DHS.
A lawyer for the family told the Associated Press they were being held in an immigration detention center in Texas.
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, on June 2, 2025.
Boulder Police Department | Via Reuters
“It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives,” attorneys for the family wrote in a court filing challenging their removal, according to the AP.
Eric Lee, one of the attorneys for the family, told the AP that efforts to deport them should not happen in a democracy.
“The punishment of a four-year-old child for something their parent allegedly did, who also has a presumption of innocence, is something that should outrage Americans regardless of their citizenship status,” Lee said.
CNBC has requested comment from DHS and asked if the department plans to appeal Gallagher’s order.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Tuesday, “This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this.”
Soliman, 45, is charged with attempted murder and other crimes in the assault, which left 15 people and a dog injured.
The group that he is accused of attacking was demonstrating to call for the release of Israeli hostages from the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
Soliman yelled, “Free Palestine!” during the attack, authorities have said.
