The El Gamals, a Colorado Springs-area family who were released from a Texas immigration facility following a federal judge’s order on Thursday, were detained again by federal agents and put on a private jet in Denver bound for Egypt, attorneys for the family said Saturday.

As of early Saturday evening, it was unclear whether Hayam El Gamal and her five children would be allowed to return to the U.S.

Federal agents took the El Gamal family, who emigrated from Egypt, to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, in early June 2025, following the arrest of Hayam El Gamal’s then-husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, in connection with an antisemitic attack in Boulder. The family had been cleared by the FBI, according to court testimony from an agent.

They were detained for 324 days at the immigration facility despite a decades-old federal settlement that states children are not allowed to be detained for more than 20.

The family’s attorneys, Eric Lee and Chris Godshall-Bennett, filed an emergency motion Saturday to halt the family’s deportation. Judge Fred Biery, who ordered the family’s release two days earlier, granted the motion. A second federal judge, Nina Wang, also issued an order Saturday that bars the Trump administration from deporting the family.

Once the first motion was granted, the plane carrying the El Gamal family turned back, Lee said.

“We are told the family will be released, but we don’t trust a word they say,” Lee said on X. “The children are 5, 5, 9, 16, and 18 years old. The mother has suffered health emergencies, and her life is in danger.”

Lee said the detainment violated Biery’s order not to detain or remove the family from the U.S. until they go through formal removal proceedings, which the family is fighting.

The Department of Homeland Security did not address questions about the family’s detainment Saturday. However, it reiterated the family has received due process — an account that has been disputed by the family’s attorneys.

“Under President Trump, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of those who have no right to be in our country — especially terrorists and their associates. We are confident the courts will ultimately vindicate us,” Homeland Security officials said.

Community members associated with Neighbors of Faith and Conviction, a group of Colorado Springs residents who organized to help support the family, said they picked up the El Gamals from the Texas facility and returned them to Colorado Springs early Saturday morning.

A short time later, the family drove to the ICE field office in Denver to comply with the judge’s order for a required check-in. That’s when they were taken, according to Neighbors of Faith and Conviction spokesperson Alexandria Newton.

Federal Court grants our Emergency Motion stopping Trump from illegally deporting El Gamal family.

The plane is landing in Michigan in an hour. It constitutionally cannot be allowed to take off. pic.twitter.com/FBswbCxvDn

— Eric Lee (@EricLeeAtty) April 25, 2026

About 60 people, including classmates of the El Gamal children, protested at City Hall on Saturday afternoon following the news of the family’s deportation.

One of the demonstrators said the family wants to do things right and is in the process of getting green cards.

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.

48 hours after release

Megan O’Rear, a community member and former teacher for the eldest in the family, Habiba El Gamal, was one of the few people to see them in the last 48 hours.

She and other members were on call waiting for the family’s release on Thursday to drive them to a sponsor who was willing to house the family in Colorado Springs.

O’Rear said the family members cracked jokes and were eager to enjoy the “simple” things, such as eating at Chick-fil-A again during the nearly 14-hour car ride. They also talked about the future, she said, sharing fears of what’s next but also hope of what could be.

As they chatted, one of the 5-year-old twins clung to her teddy bear.

“They were full of so much joy,” O’Rear said of her car ride back to Colorado Springs with the family. “To get a glimpse of what it could be. (They) had that ripped away from them.”

Life at the Dilley facility through the eyes of visitors

Hope, a friend of Habiba El Gamal, said she visited her classmate of around three years at the Texas facility in mid-April.

She and several others who went to the facility said they were shuffled into a visitation room, where she talked to the family for four hours.

Hope, who refused to provide a last name for safety reasons, said seeing her friend felt like Christmas morning. She and her friend caught up, and Hope said she had the opportunity to meet her siblings for the first time. She was welcomed by the family and treated as if she were a guest in their home.

Years ago, the former classmates were skipping through the halls of their east Colorado Springs school. Now, Hope questions if she’ll ever be able to see her best friend again.

“The sparkle in her eyes is gone, and her smile is gone,” Hope said of her friend.

Newton, a licensed bilingual social worker who has provided counseling and mental health services to detained immigrants, said she also visited the family.

“It was notable. Just the depressive symptoms they were experiencing. Low energy. Flat effect. You could tell they were really tired and worn down,” Newton said of her recent trip to the facility.

Hayam and Habiba El Gamal have been vocal about their experiences at the Texas facility, alleging that people are “treated like animals” and not properly fed.

“One of the kids shared that she feels like she’s turning into an apple tree because she had only been fed apples for 322 days, and she was just longing for a banana,” Newton said.

Others who spoke to The Gazette reiterated similar comments by the family during their visits.

Hayam El Gamal has also been in “excruciating” pain, according to her attorneys, because of a growing lump on her chest that could be cancerous. Lee alleged on X that the mother’s serious medical emergency was due to a “systematic denial of medical attention by ICE.”

Other children and mothers detained at the immigration facility have also spoken out.

Mothers of the over 3,500 children cycled through the facility told investigative publication ProPublica that children were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide.

This type of behavior is partially due to sleep deprivation.

According to Newton, the El Gamal family told her the facility keeps its lights on 24/7, which makes it hard to sleep. Prolonged sleep deprivation, Newton said, increases symptoms of depression, anxiety and cognitive function.

The severity of mental health impacts also increases during prolonged detention, researchers found in a study that examines the impact immigration detention has on children’s mental health.

Homeland Security officials have denied allegations made by the El Gamals, saying ICE promotes “safe, secure, human environments” for those in custody. Specifically, the agency denied allegations of delayed or denied treatment for the mother.

DHS has labeled other allegations about the Texas detention center as “media lies.”

CoreCivic, the private company in charge of the Texas facility, says on its website that it provides “high quality, compassionate treatment to all those in our care.”

The company also says there is “misinformation” being spread about the facilities, adding that CoreCivic operates “clean facilities” and offers “balanced meals and clean drinking water.”

Newton and others thought differently. The licensed social worker said it’s not her first time at the facility. She was there in 2015 to work with other families, and the only changes she saw were that the length of stays increased, along with the number of detainees.

“It feels very punitive and similar to a prison in the way that you’re treated,” Newton said. “For people who have committed no crimes but are waiting for their immigration process, it is not a healthy environment.”