A Brown University assistant professor and doctor was recently deported to Lebanon after federal authorities raised concerns about her ties to Hezbollah. Rasha Alawieh, who specializes in kidney transplants, was detained at Boston Logan International Airport upon returning from a trip to Lebanon. She had attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, a notorious Hezbollah leader linked to the deaths of many Americans.
The Department of Homeland Security stated that Alawieh expressed support for Nasrallah during her questioning by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin emphasized that a visa is a privilege, and showing support for terrorists disqualifies individuals from holding one. Alawieh was in the U.S. on an H-1B visa, which allows skilled workers to live and work in the country.
The situation escalated when Alawieh’s visa was canceled after CBP discovered sympathetic photos and videos of Hezbollah leaders on her phone. This led officials to question her intentions in the U.S. and ultimately deem her inadmissible.
A federal judge, Leo Sorokin, ordered a hearing regarding Alawieh’s case and instructed that she not be deported without prior notice to the court. Despite this, she was placed on a flight to Paris and arrived back in Lebanon over the weekend. The judge later postponed the hearing to allow the Department of Justice more time to respond to claims that federal agents ignored the court’s order.
Alawieh first came to the U.S. in 2018 for a nephrology fellowship and had completed additional training at prestigious institutions. Her cousin has filed a lawsuit claiming that Brown Medicine sponsored her visa for her role as an assistant professor. The case has raised questions about the treatment of visa holders and the implications of their personal beliefs on their immigration status.