After more than 10 months in ICE custody, children of Colorado firebomber say their release has been marked by chaos

The 16-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter of a convicted murderer who attacked peaceful protestors in Colorado last year say they live in "constant fear" with "constant worrying" since being released from ICE custody.

"(The government doesn't) refer to us as normal human beings. We're the family of the terrorist. We're the family of him. It's always just based on him. Nothing about what we did," said Mohamed Soliman's son.

His father was sentenced to life in prison for the attack against people who were demonstrating in Boulder in support of hostages held by Hamas. One person died.

 The son and his adult sister, Habiba, sat down with CBS Colorado to talk about the government's efforts to deport them.

"We're definitely not able to live again," said Habiba. "And it's taking from our health. It's taking from our mental health. It's a lot."

After the arrest of the father at the scene of the attack, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Soliman's wife Hayam El Gamal and their five children into custody. In addition to the older children, there is a 9-year-old daughter and twins of 5, who were 4 at the time.

The mother and children have said all along that they abhor the attack.

"I can't imagine how they're feeling. It's such a pain. It's really, really unfair and my heart goes out to all of them," said the son, referring to the victims of the attack.

"I wish them all the best. I wish them all peace and healing. Nothing we have gone through slightly even compared to what they have gone through," he continued. "It goes against everything we believe in. Our neighbors are Christian. Our neighbors are Jewish. My friends in school are Jewish. My friends in school are Christian."

"And it's just so shocking to see that something on this scale of violence could take place from our family."

Father's crime derailed daughter's hopes

"We condemn violence. Violence is never justified. What he did goes against everything me and my family believe in," said Habiba.

Habiba was a lauded student before the attack. A local newspaper paid tribute to her as one of the best and brightest in high school in the Colorado Springs area. She was even offered monetary assistance. She hoped one day to get to medical school.

"I feel like since the first moment we stepped foot in the U.S., I had to work at least twice as hard to just keep up. So it's always been different. It's always been difficult. And after what happened, it makes it like 10 times worse," said Habiba.

Family members thought they were in the U.S. legally

The family came to the United States in 2022 from Kuwait. Hayam El Gamal has now divorced Mohamed Soliman since the attack. She and her ex-husband were born in Egypt and were paired in an arranged marriage. The U.S. government says they have no legal right to be in the country.

"They were brought here by the ex-husband. He handled the immigration situation and told them they were all in status because of the asylum applications filed before their visas expired. Now they know that was not true," said Eric Lee, an attorney for the mother and children.

But the Department of Homeland Security maintains they are in the country illegally because the visas are expired.

In the aftermath of the attack, the White House in its account on the social media platform X posted: "Six One-way Tickets for Mohamed's Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon."

The family was taken into custody and soon ended up in the family detention center operated by ICE contractor CoreCivic in Dilley, Texas.

Federal custody felt "dehumanizing" to children

The son and daughter talked about the difficulties of the center for themselves, their younger siblings and their mother.

"It was so dehumanizing," said Habiba. "We're called 'traffic.'"

"We're not called humans or residents or anything. 'Traffic is coming, traffic is going.' Or like, 'I have some traffic here, you have to close those gates.'"

CBS News video from 2018 shows the center in a clean state and a plentiful amount of things like toys for the children. The Soliman children tell a different story.

"There isn't the activities that they're showing at all. There is nothing like that there for the kids at all. There is nothing like that there at all," said the brother. "The toys are not like what's in the picture. It's so much less. And especially for the kids, there's nothing."

School was only an hour a day, he explained.

"School looks nothing like that at all. ... The school they have is just giving kids a paper to work on and then not even checking on them or doing anything."

They lived in a room with their mother and younger siblings.

They worried for their mother who was ill and they believe was not getting appropriate treatment. Attorneys say Hayam el Gamal has a lump on her chest and fluid around her heart as well as high blood pressure. Habiba complained but said her grievances were not welcome.

"And they were like, if you keep trying or saying one more word, we are going to separate her to another facility where they sleep (a) hundred people on the ground, no bed, mattresses. And you're not even going to be able to talk to her except every two weeks."

"They just put an act. Just to make it seem like they're the most perfect place and like 'what are you complaining about,' but the reality is totally different," said Habiba. She claimed staffers were discouraged from treating them kindly.

"And sometimes they would even get in trouble because they were just nice to us," said Habiba.

She recalled the day they were to be released, a staffer wanted to give a high five to her 9-year-old sister. A supervisor stood by.

"And she asked him, 'Can I?' And then he was like, 'no.'"

"High fiving a 9 year old? What would that hurt you? What would that do to you?" asked Habiba.

Officials at detainment facility say it meets or exceeds federal standards

In response to inquiries about the facility, Core Civic wrote to CBS Colorado and pointed to a statement by Dr. Kristen Dauss, vice president and chief medical officer for the company.

"I became a doctor for the same reasons many of my colleagues did: to serve those who are most vulnerable and most overlooked. That commitment is precisely what brought me to CoreCivic. Serving underserved populations is my life's work, and it's present in every aspect of how I approach the care we deliver. The children and their families at DIPC receive care that is clinically rigorous, federally overseen and delivered with dignity."

CoreCivic pointed to a website where they wrote there were 600 staff members at the facility dedicated to caring for families and meeting or exceeding all federal standards and subject to rigorous oversight.

In the treatment of children, the government operates under the guidelines set by judicial decree in 1997 often referred to as The Flores Laws. They set minimum standards for the treatment of children in immigration custody. It generally sets a 20-day limit on the time immigrant children can be detained at 20 days.

The family's release came after a judge in a Texas Federal District Court concurred with the opinion of a magistrate who said the government had failed to prove they were a flight risk or dangerous.

In the treatment of children, the government operates under the guidelines set by judicial decree in 1997 often referred to as The Flores Laws. They set minimum standards for the treatment of children in immigration custody. It generally sets a 20-day limit on the time immigrant children can be detained at 20 days.

The mother and children spent more than 10 months in ICE facilities. They were freed with the requirement that the mother and Habiba would wear ankle monitors and the family would appear for frequent check-ins.

Homeland Security sent a statement from acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis:

"The facts of this case have not changed: Mohammed Soliman is a terrorist responsible for an anti-Semitic firebombing in Boulder. Despite receiving full due process and a final order of removal, this activist judge appointed by Bill Clinton is releasing 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."

Family says plane turned around after judge's ruling

Supporters picked up the family and they made the long drive to Colorado Springs. They arrived at 3 in the morning on April 25. A few hours later, that Saturday at 7 a.m., they had to be up for a mandatory check-in with ICE in Centennial in the southern part of the Denver metro area. They had only a few hours' sleep. The teens say a supervisor told them and their attorney it would only take five minutes.

"They lied to us, straight to our face," said the brother.

"When we get in there, we're surrounded by more than a dozen agents. People with guns, wearing bulletproof vests and just cornered us and said we will put you on a flight and that's it."

They took them to holding cells.

"Like a room made for criminals and it's just such a traumatizing sight. ... The 5 year old started crying like 'What are we doing here?'"

They hustled them out and into a van where attorneys say the small children were not placed properly in car seats and the family was driven at speeds close to 90 miles an hour to Denver International Airport. There, they were placed on a plane staffed by contracted guards bound for New Jersey.

"They opened the van, fifteen other officers were like staring at us. It was horrifying," said Habiba. The plane was staffed by five people, including a nurse."

"And they were treating us basically like animals. Like we're not even humans," she recalled. "One of the officers, she was a horrible person."

Habiba's mother was having difficulty. After hours belted tightly into her seat, she was begging for relief.

"And she was like, you're not going to move it," Habiba recalled the guard saying. She pointed out that the guards on the plane were in and out of seat belts.

"She said, 'We're not the same. You can't do it.' And she was so angry she even pushed mom. When they reached an airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan, an apparent stopover, her mother begged to get off the plane for air. Saying she would be glad to be surrounded by guards. It was not allowed.

Lawyers for the family filed for an emergency injunction with Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas, who had freed them. He responded quickly.

"After reviewing the record and the applicable law, the Court is of the opinion that it should be GRANTED such that this Court hereby ORDERS that the removal of the Petitioners from the United States and from the District of Colorado is STAYED. It is so ORDERED," wrote the judge.

The plane had taken off from Ypsilanti, headed east toward New Jersey, crossing into Canadian airspace before it was turned around. Attorneys for the family believe the flight was the beginning of what was to be a trip deporting the family overseas.

The guards on the plane read an online news article covering the judge's ruling, said Habiba.

"They completely changed."

They became pleasant.

"So I'm like, so now we're humans but before we were not humans?"

Family members still want to become U.S. citizens

The family was returned to Colorado, where they await the next moves as their case winds through the justice and immigration systems.

In regard to limits on custody to 20 days under the Flores consent decrees the DHS said in a statement on May 21 to CBS Colorado:
"For years, the Flores consent decree has been a tool of the left that is antithetical to the law and wastes valuable U.S. taxpayer funded resources."

Parents have a choice if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration's immigration enforcement."

There are filings in multiple courts, seeking an end to the Administration's efforts to deport the family. A stay of removal in place by a judge in a federal district court known as a habeas court in Denver holds them in the U.S. now. But the government has asked the judge to dissolve the stay, claiming their habeas petition is moot because they are not in custody.

But the mother and Habiba do remain under orders to wear monitoring devices and the family has frequent check-ins with immigration authorities.

There are other appeals and petitions as well.

Mohamed Soliman is still facing federal terrorism charges in the case and the potential of the death penalty.

Lawyers for Soliman have filed an emergency motion to preclude removal of his ex-wife and five children from the United States until the U.S. District Court in Colorado determines their presence will not be required for his defense.

"Life was just starting to get better," said Habiba of the time before her father's attack. "And then all that was snatched away from us."

Her plans for college were delayed. An article published by the newspaper that honored her has been pulled down.

While her brother has missed a year of school, the siblings recall what he learned about America in classes.

"We expected justice and a sense of fairness in this democracy that is the greatest in the world, is what people say."

The teens remain devoted to their mother.

"She's the mother and she's the only one after everything. To feel betrayed by what happened from my dad and then to be put in a situation like this ... " said Habiba, who started to become emotional.

"Mom has raised us to be kind, to volunteer, to help. To go for food drives, to do everything and to help everyone regardless of who they are."

They still want to become U.S. citizens. They would like to treat others the way their mother does and wish to become Americans in the model of the family's supporters.

"We've seen a lot of kindness. We've seen a lot of love from all the true American people that actually represent American society. I don't believe that we should believe ICE's view or the current government's view of what American society should be. We should believe the people that actually care about us," said Habiba.

They thought they were on that path, she explained.

"But it all got blown away in seconds," said Habiba.