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Deportation of Rasha Alawieh

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Rasha Alawieh M.D., a Lebanese assistant professor at Brown University, was denied re-entry to the United States in March 2025 and deported to Lebanon, despite having a H-1B visa. A court order temporarily blocking her expulsion was issued, but the government said that officers did not receive it until after her plane had departed.[1][2] U.S. Department of Defense officials justified Alawieh's denial for re-entry after "sympathetic photos and videos" of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah militants were found "in her cell phone's deleted items folder", and to have been emailed by Alawieh from her phone.

A U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman said that upon being questioned Alawieh “openly admitted” her support for Nasrallah.[3] The spokeswoman added that: "A visa is a privilege, not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied.”

Biography

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Rasha Alawieh was born in 1990. She is a Lebanese transplant nephrologist who had worked as an assistant professor at Brown University. [1][2] She is a Shia Muslim.[4]

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.[5] That year, she obtained a J-1 visa[5] to enter the United States and completed fellowships at Ohio State University and the University of Washington.[6] 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.[7][2] This visa was issued at the Lebanese consulate on March 11, 2025, and was valid through mid-2027.[7]

Denial of entry

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Alawieh visited Lebanon in February 2025 to see relatives.[8] While in Lebanon, she attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah.[3] Hezbollah has been deemed a designated terrorist organization by the United States Department of State.[9] In her airport re-entry interview, she said she attended the funeral because of Nasrallah's religious position in the Shia community.[4] She said her family in Lebanon was not in Hezbollah, but supported it.[10] Alawieh admitted during questioning that she had sent some images of Hezbollah members.[11]

On March 17, U.S. Department of Defense officials justified Alawieh's denial for re-entry after "sympathetic photos and videos" of Nasrallah, Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah militants were found "in her cell phone's deleted items folder".[4] A U.S. Homeland Security spokeswoman said that upon being questioned Alawieh, “openly admitted” her support for Nasrallah.[3] She added that: "A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied.[3]

On March 14, 2025, Alawieh had returned to the U.S. on a flight landing at Logan International Airport in Boston. She was detained at the airport.[4] That same day, her cousin, Yara Chehab, filed a petition alleging that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was unlawfully detaining Alawieh "without any justification and without permitting them access to their counsel" for at least 36 hours after traveling to Lebanon to see relatives.[8]

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.[12][13] Alawieh's attorney said that in violation of this order she was sent on a flight to Paris and was back in Lebanon on March 16.[5] A lawyer with the firm working for Chehab said that she went to the airport on March 15 and told a CBP officer about the order before Alawieh's flight departed.[3] Sorokin filed a second order that morning[1] saying 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.[6]

A government lawyer said that officers did not receive the court order until after Alawieh had left the country, and submitted a sworn statement to that effect to the court from the CBP supervisor who had been on duty when she was deported.[11]

The law firm Arnold & Porter was initially going to represent Alawieh, but withdrew from her case, telling the court that it decided to do so after "further diligence.”[3]

Reactions

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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, with the statement, “Bye-bye Rasha” and a waving emoji, in a post widely interpreted to be mocking Alawieh.[14][15]

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.[16]

The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, called on the Trump administration to 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".[17]

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c "Brown University professor held by customs officials at airport after travel to Lebanon". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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.
  4. ^ a b c d Raymond, Nate (2025-03-17). "Doctor deported to Lebanon had photos 'sympathetic' to Hezbollah on phone, US says". Reuters.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b Chehab v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-10614 (D. Mass.) (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts March 14. 2025).
  9. ^ "Foreign Terrorist Organizations".
  10. ^ "Photos of Hezbollah, trip to Iraq: New docs reveal more about deported Brown doctor Rasha Alawieh". The Providence Journal.
  11. ^ a b "Newly unsealed documents shed light on deportation of Brown professor". Brown Daily Herald.
  12. ^ Raymond, Nate (March 17, 2025). "Doctor at Brown University deported to Lebanon despite US judge's order". Reuters.
  13. ^ "State Department".
  14. ^ Lubin, Rhian (March 18, 2025). "White House uses photo from Trump's McDonald's stunt to mock deported doctor". The Independent. Retrieved 2025-03-24.
  15. ^ Rose, Andy (March 18, 2025). "What we know about a Rhode Island doctor and professor who was deported to Lebanon". CNN. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  16. ^ "Brown University advises all international community members to postpone, reconsider travel". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  17. ^ Rose, Andy; Pazmino, Gloria (2025-03-17). "Deported Brown University doctor acknowledged she attended Hezbollah leader's funeral on visit to Lebanon, source says". CNN. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
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