Family of Boulder Attack Suspect Trapped in ICE Detention Over 300 Days, Children Plead for Freedom

The wife and children of Mohamed Soliman, the Egyptian national accused of a deadly firebombing in Boulder, Colorado, have been locked in ICE detention for over 300 days—an extraordinary and cruelly long stretch, especially for young children. Soliman’s wife, Hayam El Gamal, and their five children, including five-year-old twins, have been held at the Dilley detention center in Texas since shortly after the attack last year.

Soliman is charged with assembling Molotov cocktails and firebombing a group supporting Israeli hostages, an attack that killed one woman and injured a dozen others. While Soliman was immediately arrested, the Department of Homeland Security also swept up his family, claiming they overstayed a tourist visa and are in the country illegally. The family had filed an asylum claim before their visa expired, but that has done nothing to spare them from indefinite detention.

The children’s letters, obtained by Scripps News, reveal the human toll of this detention nightmare. The youngest, just five years old, express their longing for home, school, and simple comforts like a teddy bear and pizza. The oldest, 18-year-old Habiba Soliman, recently graduated high school but now finds her dreams shattered by her father’s alleged crimes. She describes the experience as a “nightmare” that has destroyed her family’s life in an instant.

Medical neglect compounds the family’s suffering. One of the five-year-olds has 13 untreated cavities, and a 16-year-old brother endured delayed appendicitis treatment so severe he vomited and collapsed before receiving proper care. Their attorney, Eric Lee, denounces the detention as a “systematic denial of medical attention” and calls the targeting of this family “absurd.”

Dilley is run by CoreCivic, a private prison company contracted by the government, which along with DHS denies allegations of mistreatment and neglect. DHS claims the family remains detained while authorities investigate their knowledge of the attack, but court records and FBI findings show no evidence the family was involved or aware of Mohamed Soliman’s plot.

“We, unfortunately, happen to be the family of somebody who committed a criminal act,” Habiba said. “We didn’t know anything. Our whole life was destroyed in seconds.”

The family hopes for release to Colorado Springs, but voluntary return to Egypt is out of the question. Their attorney warns that Egyptian authorities will likely imprison them on terror charges if they are forced back. Despite the legal limit of 20 days for child detention in the U.S., the El Gamal children have been held for more than 300 days, a glaring violation of both law and basic human decency.

“This place broke something in us,” Habiba wrote. “Something that I don’t know if we will ever be able to fix.”

This case exposes the inhumane lengths to which the immigration system will go, punishing innocent family members as collateral damage in the so-called war on terror. It is a stark reminder that accountability and justice must extend beyond headlines and suspects to the vulnerable people caught in the crossfire. The El Gamal family’s ordeal demands urgent action and scrutiny from all who care about human rights and government overreach.