DILLEY, Texas — Hayam El Gamal and her five children, who had been held in an immigration detention here for nearly 10 months, were released Thursday. They were detained there longer than any other family under the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
El Gamal's ex-husband, the children's father, was charged in a fatal antisemitic firebombing attack in Colorado. The children range in age from 5 to 18.
The family was freed Thursday afternoon, several hours after U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas ordered their release.
“They have been released,” family attorney Eric Lee told NBC News in a phone call with a clamor of young voices in the background. The attorneys drove out of Dilley and did not stop for media.
As he left the courtroom earlier in the day, Lee told reporters that he was “thrilled to pieces” about the judge's decision. El Gamal and Habiba Soliman, 18, the oldest child, will have to wear ankle monitors, but Lee said at least "they’ll be home."
Lee declined to say if the family would be flying out of Texas on Thursday, adding that El Gamal’s health is a priority.
“That’s the first thing we are doing is we are getting her medical attention,” he said. He said he could not comment on when she might go to a medical facility.
Christopher Godshall-Bennett, who represented Habiba Soliman, said after the ruling that "children should not be in jail."
"It's really heartening there's still a sliver of justice," a visibly emotional Godshall-Bennett said, adding that they came "so close" to getting out several times over the past several months.
On Monday, a federal magistrate recommended the family be released “under conditions sufficient to ensure their participation at future removal proceedings.”
Following Monday's recommendation for their release, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News that "the judge wants to release this terrorist’s family onto American streets. Under President Trump, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of those who have no right to be in our country, especially national security threats."
El Gamal and her children had been in detention since June, following the arrest of her ex-husband Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45. He has been charged with multiple counts in connection with the June attack in Boulder on a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. At least 14 people were injured in the attack and a woman died weeks later. He's pleaded not guilty to the charges.
El Gamal, who divorced Soliman after his arrest, condemned the attack and said that the family knew nothing of his alleged plans.
Lee, El Gamal’s attorney, recently filed court documents urging the family’s release, pointing out El Gamal’s recent emergency room visit and a lump in her chest that’s been causing her “excruciating” pain. Several physicians asked by Lee to independently review El Gamal’s medical records recommended she receive further testing for cancer, autoimmune disease and cardiac issues and raised concerns over her medical condition.
Biery’s order is not the first time the administration has been instructed to release the family. An immigration judge granted the family bond, allowing them to leave detention on a $15,000 bond on Sept. 19, 2025. But the administration used various legal maneuvers to prevent their release.
The administration tried to immediately deport the family after Soliman was arrested, with the White House posting on social media about six one-way tickets for “Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon.”
But a federal judge stopped the deportation, saying El Gamal and her children could not be immediately deported because they had been in the country more than two years.
The family had been outspoken about conditions inside the Dilley facility, which is designated as a detention center for families. Drawings by the children and letters by them and El Gamal were released to the media and provided to Congress.
In a March 9 letter to U.S. senators, El Gamal stated that the family’s religious beliefs were not accommodated. She and her oldest daughter were not shielded from men they did not know, she said, and halal food was not served.
DHS has previously called allegations about poor care “mainstream media lies” and said parents and children are “housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security and medical needs.”
The agency also has previously said the families have access to full medical staff, including a pediatrician, and it described the care as “the best healthcare” some detainees have received “in their entire lives.”
