Nearly a year after an antisemitic attack in Boulder, a federal judge ordered Thursday that the suspect’s Colorado Springs-area family immediately be released from a Texas immigration detention center.

Hayam El Gamal and her five children, Egyptian nationals, were taken to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, in early June 2025, following the arrest of her then-husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman. Attorneys for the family said they were released Thursday evening.

Accused of throwing makeshift incendiary devices at a rally for the release of Israeli hostages, Soliman, 46, faces over 100 state charges, including first-degree murder and more than two dozen counts of attempted first-degree murder, as well as 12 federal hate crime counts.

An FBI agent previously testified in court that there was no evidence to suggest that the family knew about Soliman’s plans to carry out the attack.

The family has fought to be released since being detained nearly a year ago, alleging very poor conditions at the Dilley facility — accusations that government officials have contested.

A future of unknowns

Judge Fred Biery ordered the family’s release Thursday during a hearing in San Antonio. The order follows a recommendation for release made Monday by another federal judge.

“I left the courtroom in tears, thrilled that this family can return to their home,” Chris Godshall-Bennett, an attorney for the El Gamal family, posted on X.

The government’s attorneys could appeal the decision to the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which also oversees some Texas cases.

The Department of Homeland Security will continue to fight for the removal of undocumented immigrants, especially national security threats, Lauren Bis, a spokesperson, told The Gazette.

Homeland Security officials did not respond to requests asking if they would appeal the decision.

“Despite receiving a full due process and a final order of removal, this activist judge appointed by Bill Clinton is releasing this terrorist’s family onto American streets,” Bis wrote in a statement via email.

The family could still be deported, meaning more legal battles are ahead. Biery’s order also requires that Hayam and her eldest child, Habiba El Gamal, wear ankle monitors upon their release and comply with reasonable reporting requirements to immigration authorities.

The family, along with Soliman, came to the U.S. from Egypt on Aug. 27, 2022, on a B-2 tourist visa that expired the following February. On Sept. 29, 2022, Soliman filed for asylum, listing his former wife and five children as dependents, in Denver. The family’s attorneys said in June 2025 that the asylum request was pending before their detainment.

It was also revealed in early court proceedings that El Gamal is a network engineer who had a pending EB-2 visa, available to “professionals with advanced degrees.”

Several of El Gamal’s five children, whose ages range from 5 to 18, attended the Thomas MacLaren School in Colorado Springs. Their eldest, now 18-year-old Habiba El Gamal, excelled in school and was honored as one of the city’s top students.

“I can still vividly recall Habiba’s warm, soft smile in her acrylic self-portrait from her senior year and how she spent over three weeks going above and beyond the requirements for this assignment,” said Mariah Ziemer, her former art teacher.

“I was continually impressed that this aspiring medical student was actually one of the most exemplary art students.”

Community members raised almost $100,000 through a GoFundMe drive. The donations are funding full bond efforts, essential needs and reintegration resources, while building the court’s confidence in the family’s community ties. They are not funding legal fees, according to the GoFundMe page. In addition, more than 1,100 people signed a petition calling for Colorado lawmakers to help release the El Gamal family.

Rallies in support of the family were held recently in Colorado Springs and Dilley, according to one of the family’s attorneys. On Monday, one of the attorneys documented protests from friends and classmates at City Hall in Colorado Springs.

“We are incredible grateful to see justice and mercy prevail for this family,” Colorado Springs organization Neighbors of Faith and Conviction said in a statement. “Our community, and frankly anyone who knows them is overjoyed to see them coming home.”

The organization was created in the wake of the family’s detainment.

Thursday marked the family’s 324th day in detention.

Editor’s note: The purpose of the GoFundMe drive has been corrected to reflect that donations did not go to legal fees.