Deportation of Rasha Alawieh
Rasha Alawieh M.D. had worked as an assistant professor at Brown University. Alawieh gained media attention after she was denied re-entry to the United States in March 2025 and deported to Lebanon despite having a H-1B visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion.[1][2]
Rasha Alawieh
[edit]Rasha Alawieh was born in 1988 or 1989. She is a Lebanese transplant nephrologist who had worked as an assistant professor at Brown University. [1][2] She is a Shia Muslim.[3]
Alawieh obtained her medical degree from the American University of Beirut in 2015. She completed her residency at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in 2018.[4] That year, she obtained a J-1 visa[4] to enter the United States and completed fellowships at Ohio State University and the University of Washington.[5] She completed the Yale Waterbury Internal Medicine Program in June 2024, the same month the United States' government approved Alawieh's petition for an H-1B visa, sponsored by Brown Medicine.[6][2] This visa was issued at the Lebanese consulate on March 11 and was valid through mid-2027.[6]
2025 denial of entry
[edit]Alawieh visited Lebanon in February 2025 to see relatives.[7] According to the Department of Homeland Security while in Lebanon, she attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah.[8] According to a transcript of her airport re-entry interview, this was because of Nasrallah's religious position in the Shia community, and not due to support of his politics.[3] On March 17, Department of Defense authorities responded alleging that Alawieh had been denied re-entry after they found "sympathetic photos and videos" of Nasrallah, Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah militants "in her cell phone's deleted items folder".[3]
On March 14, 2025, Alawieh returned to the U.S. on a flight landing at Logan International Airport in Boston. She was detained at the airport.[3] That same day, her cousin, Yara Chehab, filed a petition alleging that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was unlawfully detaining Dr. Alawieh "without any justification and without permitting them access to their counsel" for at least 36 hours after traveling to Lebanon to see relatives.[7] That evening, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin issued orders barring Alawieh's removal from Massachusetts without 48 hours notice to the court and scheduling for her to be brought to a hearing on March 17.[9]
In violation of this order, it was confirmed by Alawieh's attorney that she was sent on a flight to Paris and was back in Lebanon on March 16.[4] A lawyer with the firm working for Chehab confirmed that she went to the airport on March 15 and showed a CBP officer a copy of the order before Alawieh's flight departed, and this was corroborated by a CBP declaration on March 17.[8] Sorokin filed a second order that morning[1] stating there was reason to believe CBP had willfully disobeyed his previous order and directed the government to provide a response ahead of the scheduled hearing.[5]
Responses
[edit]In March 2025, the White House social media posted a photo of Donald Trump waving from a drive-thru window that was taken during his campaign stop at a Philadelphia McDonald's, in a widely interpreted to be mocking Alawieh.[10]
Brown University advised all of its international community members to postpone travel, saying it was waiting for additional information from the US Department of State.[11]
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release on March 16 calling on the Trump administration to immediately readmit Alawieh, stating “Deporting lawful immigrants like Dr. Alawieh without any basis undermines the rule of law and reinforces suspicion that our immigration system is turning into an anti-Muslim, white supremacist institution that seeks to expel and turn away as many Muslims and people of color as possible".[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Goldstein, Dana (2025-03-16). "Brown University Professor and Doctor Is Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge's Order". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ a b c "Brown University professor held by customs officials at airport after travel to Lebanon". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ a b c d Raymond, Nate (2025-03-17). "Doctor deported to Lebanon had photos 'sympathetic' to Hezbollah on phone, US says". Reuters.
- ^ a b c "Brown Medicine professor and doctor deported to Lebanon despite having valid visa, court filings claim". NBC News. 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ a b Rose, Andy; Pazmino, Gloria (2025-03-17). "Doctor at Brown University deported to Lebanon despite US judge's order". CNN. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ a b Jang, Jaeha (2025-03-17). "Former Yale medical resident deported from Boston airport despite court order". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ a b Chehab v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-10614 (D. Mass.) (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts March 14. 2025).
- ^ a b Goldstein, Dana; Russell, Jenna (2025-03-17). "Deported Professor Rasha Alawieh Attended Hezbollah Leader's Funeral, D.H.S. Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ Raymond, Nate (March 17, 2025). "Doctor at Brown University deported to Lebanon despite US judge's order". Reuters.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Lubin, Rhian (2025-03-18). "White House uses photo from Trump's McDonald's stunt to mock deported doctor". The Independent. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ "Brown University advises all international community members to postpone, reconsider travel". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
- ^ "CAIR Calls on U.S. to 'Immediately Readmit' Rhode Island Doctor Wrongly Deported". Council on American–Islamic Relations. Retrieved 2025-03-17.