Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)
Media Contact: Marium Uddin
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (972) 331-9021
Website: MLFA.ORG
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 13, 2025
Muslim Legal Fund of America and Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP File Federal Habeas Petition Challenging the Indefinite Detention of Marwan Marouf
October 13, 2025 – Dallas Texas: Today, attorneys from Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), alongside co-counsel from Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP, filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus in the federal district court for the Northern District of Texas on behalf of our client, Marwan Marouf, a Dallas community leader and Palestinian-American. Marwan has been unjustly detained at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility for three weeks despite his request last month to be released on bond. The Immigration Judge accepted the government’s argument that he did not have the authority to release Marwan. This effectively short-circuited Marwan’s ability to be heard on bond – where factors like flight risk and danger to community would have been demonstrated overwhelmingly in his favor; and, rather, improperly rested the issue of release from custody solely on a jurisdictional question. This federal court case challenges the government’s position that Marwan can be detained indefinitely without a bond hearing.
The U.S. Constitution does not permit indefinite detention without bond. Civil detention without special justification violates the Fifth Amendment. There is no justification for detaining Marwan without a fair bond hearing, and the Constitution demands he be given the opportunity to establish his eligibility for release.
By filing this federal habeas petition, MLFA and Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP demand Marwan be given due process in immigration court, a legal protection he is entitled to under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “The Trump administration’s decision to detain a 30-year resident and exemplary leader of the Dallas Muslim community without bond is unconscionable. Indefinite detention without the right to a bond hearing violates Mr. Marouf’s right to due process. The Fifth Amendment applies to the people and not to citizens alone. We urge the people to demand Mr. Marouf’s immediate release,” says co-counsel Eric Lee from the law firm Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP.
“The government does not have the authority to detain people without lawful justification, no matter their citizenship status,” says co-counsel Chris Godshall-Bennett of Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP. “We must not stand idly by while DHS abuses its power. Despite its bluster to the contrary, this government’s authority is not unlimited, and we will not let this administration make it so.”
The law is clear on this point: Marwan must be afforded due process in immigration court on the issue of bond eligibility. We look forward to the opportunity to make this case to a federal court that the law does not permit Marwan’s indefinite detention without bond.
“The Immigration Court’s finding that it lacked authority to grant Marwan bond rests on a deeply flawed interpretation of the law,” said Marium Uddin, Legal Director at MLFA. “The government’s argument strikes at the heart of due process and effectively denies Marwan – and others in his position – this basic constitutional safeguard. Our laws were designed to prevent exactly this kind of unchecked detention. No administration should be able to sidestep the Constitution and hold someone indefinitely without giving that person a fair and full chance to be heard.”
MLFA will continue to fight for Marwan’s release through all available legal channels and to defend the rights of those unjustly targeted and detained.
ABOUT: We envision an America where constitutional rights and liberties are not mere promises on paper but lived realities, upheld fiercely and equally for everyone, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, or cultural heritage. At MLFA, we champion this vision and mission at the highest levels of our nation’s legal system, relentlessly safeguarding and asserting the rights of American Muslims and their institutions. Our commitment is unyielding as we vigorously challenge injustice within constitutional and national security law at the federal level, empowering our communities to thrive with dignity, resilience, and equal protection under the law.
