An attempt to deport the family of a man suspected of attacking a pro-Israeli march with Molotov cocktails in the US state of Colorado has drawn criticism.

Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary, said the wife and five children of Mohamed Sabry Soliman were detained on Tuesday.

"We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support for it," she said.

Even though criminal investigations are typically carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law enforcement, in this case, the Department of Homeland Security is the key agency.

Soliman's immigration status has been at the centre of President Donald Trump's administration's response to the attack in the city of Boulder on Sunday, in which 12 people were injured.

Trump’s backers, who support mass deportation of immigrants, have seized on the incident and have called for forcibly removing Soliman’s family, a move that some are calling a form of collective punishment.

American blogger and analyst Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib claimed the family of Colorado terrorist suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman could be a “rushed” and “reactive” response.

Rachel Leingang wrote in The Guardian that the Trump administration quickly seized on Soliman’s immigration status to push its mass deportation agenda.

A federal judge on April 15th temporarily blocked deportations of immigrants in Colorado who face possible removal under President Donald Trump’s invocation of an 18th-century law known as the Alien Enemies Act.

The US Supreme Court also ruled in April that anyone being deported under the declaration deserved a hearing in federal court first.

‘Applied for asylum’

Officials were quick to say he was in the United States "illegally", having overstayed a tourist visa.

But later they acknowledged he had applied for asylum and had been granted a work permit.

Despite this, the White House took to social media on Tuesday, appearing to taunt the family and calling him an “illegal alien”.

"Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed's Wife and Five Kids," the official account posted on X.

"Final Boarding Call Coming Soon."

Soliman is expected to appear in court in Colorado on Thursday.

He is expected to formally face federal hate crime charges, as well as state charges of attempted murder.