A U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle Kevin Carter/Getty ImagesA plane carrying six members of the Egyptian family released from a Texas immigration detention facility last week turned around and was flying back to Colorado on Saturday, the family’s attorney said in a post in social media.The El Gamal family, released Thursday, had been detained again early Saturday by immigration agents and was in the process of being deported when a judge halted the effort, the family’s attorney, Eric Lee, said. But Lee cautioned that the situation is fluid and the family isn’t in the clear yet.Article continues below this ad“The El Gamal's deportation flight has turned around and is returning to Denver,” he posted. “We are told the family will be released, but we don't trust a word (federal officials) say.” The El Gamal's deportation flight has turned around and is returning to Denver. We are told the family will be released, but we don't trust a word they say. pic.twitter.com/dHmNMyKoyn— Eric Lee (@EricLeeAtty) April 25, 2026 Hours earlier, Lee posted on X to say an emergency halt of the deportation order was granted and that the family's flight out of Colorado was to land before leaving the United States.“Federal Court grants our Emergency Motion stopping (President) Trump from illegally deporting El Gamal family. The plane is landing in Michigan in an hour. It constitutionally cannot be allowed to take off,” attorney Eric Lee posted on X.Article continues below this adThe El Gamal family was ordered released Thursday by a federal district judge after being detained since June at the Dilley detention facility. They traveled to Colorado after their release to reunite with the community they’ve known since arriving in the United States in 2022. They were detained again Saturday.“They are being removed on a private jet,” Lee told the Houston Chronicle earlier Saturday.Article continues below this adHayam El Gamal and her five children, ages 5 to 18, were detained after her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was arrested and charged in connection with an antisemitic attack in Boulder. The family was living in Colorado Springs at the time. (El Gamal and Soliman are in divorce proceedings.)An immigration judge initially granted the family a bond last year after determining they were not a flight risk and not a danger to the community. The bond decision was later reversed and the family remained detained. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery granted the request for their release after attorneys argued the family was being held in violation of their constitutional rights.A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official late Saturday blamed an “activist judge” for the family’s release.“Mohammed Soliman is a terrorist responsible for an anti-Semitic firebombing in Boulder. The family received full due process and was issued a final order of removal on December 29, 2025,” acting assistant DHS secretary Lauren Bis wrote in an email. “The board of appeals upheld the final order of removal on April 22, 2026. Despite receiving full due process, this activist judge appointed by Bill Clinton is releasing this terrorist’s family onto American streets AGAIN.” “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.” Article continues below this adRebecca Hopkins, whose children went to school and played on the same soccer team as some of the El Gamal children, said the family immediately denounced Soliman’s actions and that the family was held in the highest regard within the Colorado Springs community. “They were a very involved family with our school, very engaged,” she told the Chronicle. “They were beloved in our community. I don't know what else they are supposed to do to make it very clear they do not support what he has done and they just want to have a good life for their kids. But our community stands very strongly with them.”April 25, 2026|Updated April 27, 2026 1:14 p.m.Immigration ReporterJulián Aguilar is an immigration reporter for the Houston Chronicle. An El Paso native, Aguilar’s journalism career began in 2007 at the Laredo Morning Times. He joined the Texas Tribune in 2009 and extensively reported on immigration, border security and the drug trade for the nonprofit news organization until 2021. His stories on immigration took him from El Paso to border towns in the Rio Grande Valley. Aguilar was part of a team of Tribune journalists who wrote a series of stories about “the reality and the rhetoric” about immigration in Texas. He journeyed by raft with smugglers who ferry people from Guatemala to Mexico, and rode with police officers patrolling the gang-controlled streets of El Salvador. After leaving the Tribune, Aguilar worked at KERA News from 2022 to 2024, then became a freelance reporter. He attended the University of Texas and earned his master's degree in journalism at the University of North Texas.