DILLEY, Texas – The wife of the Boulder, Colorado, terrorism attack suspect says she and her five children have been unlawfully held at a Dilley detention facility for more than three weeks, according to court records obtained by KSAT Investigates.
Hayal El Gamal and her five children — ages 18, 15, 7 and two four-year-olds — are being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, 73 miles southwest of San Antonio.
El Gamal and her children were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in early June 2025, two days after her husband, Mohamad Soliman, was arrested after being accused of firebombing an event in Colorado in support of Israeli hostages.
The family members, all Egyptian citizens, have not been charged in the attack. Mohamed Soliman, the alleged attacker, told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his plan, according to court documents. Authorities are investigating whether that’s true.
According to a federal lawsuit seeking their release and due process in asylum proceedings, El Gamal and her children’s experience at the facility “has been traumatic.” The suit states El Gamal has had trouble sleeping and issues preserving her modesty in observance of her faith.
The family overstayed their 2022 B-1 visas and were seeking asylum, the El Gamal’s attorney Eric Lee told KSAT. At the time of their detention, Lee said they had pending asylum applications that had not yet been adjudicated.
The Dilley facility is among the largest immigrant detainment centers in the country with capacity to detain up to 2,400 people.
Immigration Processing Centers are facilities where people are held while their immigration status is being processed or are awaiting deportation.
The South Texas Family Residential Center is one of only two active facilities housing families, according to the National Immigration Forum.
The Biden administration closed the facility last summer, citing high costs of operations, but Trump resumed operations last March under private prison operator CoreCivic.
An ICE spokesperson told KSAT Investigates they do not comment on pending litigation when asked for a statement.
Lawsuit alleges family being held as ‘punishment’
According to a lawsuit, El Gamal and her five children were detained as “punishment” for Soliman’s actions. They allege their detention violates the Fifth Amendment because detention is only allowed if it prevents a flight risk or poses a danger to the community.
El Gamal is asking for the court to:
- Prohibit ICE from deporting her family while the case is pending
- Preventing the family from being transferred outside the Western District of Texas
- Release the family from ICE custody
- Declare their detention as illegal
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Request reimbursement for attorney and legal fees
El Gamal and the children stayed at a hotel in Colorado Springs for two nights while law enforcement searched their home, records state.
On June 3, court records state Homeland Security agents told El Gamal the family would be moved because “the one at which they were staying was unsafe.”
El Gamal believed the agents were trying to help and went with them, records show.
Outside the hotel, El Gamal saw several plain-clothed law enforcement officers, who court records state are believed to be ICE officers from Denver.
When El Gamal tried to get more information, court records say an officer told her, “You have to pay for the consequences of what you did.”
Soon after, El Gamal and her children were taken to an immigration facility in Colorado, and records show they were flown to San Antonio on the evening of June 3 to be transported to Dilley.
That same night, the White House posted on X that the family was in ICE custody for “expedited removal.”
JUST IN: The wife and five children of illegal alien Mohamed Soliman—the suspect in the antisemitic firebombing of Jewish Americans—have been captured and are now in ICE custody for expedited removal.
THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT. pic.twitter.com/1EoBhqjzmU
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 3, 2025
Family entered the US on visitor visas, sought asylum
Mohamed Soliman, El Gamal and their five children entered the United States in 2022 with B-1 visitor visas and have lived in the country for more than two years, which, according to the lawsuit, means they are not eligible for fast-track deportation.
Soliman’s tourist visa expired in February 2023, according to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. He filed for asylum and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired before the alleged attack.
It isn’t clear if El Gamal and the children’s visas expired at the same time, or whether she was given a work authorization.
Soliman, his wife and children were living in Colorado Springs. A federal judge issued an order earlier this month to halt the deportation of El Gamal and the children.
In response to the attack, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that federal authorities will crack down on people who overstay their visas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
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