Dr. Rasha Alawieh deported by DHS despite judge issuing order blocking Lebanese doctor with Brown University being denied U.S entry by Trump administration.
##Update: Federal authorities told Politico that border officials moved to expel Dr. Rasha Alawieh from the U.S after they found ‘sympathetic photos and videos’ of prominent Hezbollah figures in a deleted items folder on her cell phone.
##Original story: A kidney transplant specialist who trained in the United States was on Friday deported back to her home country of Lebanon despite a federal judge ordering that she not be deported following her detainment at Boston’s Logan International Airport a day earlier on March 13th.
Accountability and due process: overreach?
The medical doctor’s deportation comes despite Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, being given legal clearance to arrive to the U.S where she would take on a vital teaching role with Brown University.
Of note, Alawieh had a valid H1B visa, or work visa, that had been issued on March 11. A Lebanese citizen, she was employed by Brown University as an assistant professor of medicine.
As a kidney transplant specialist, Alawieh had also previously trained at both the University of Washington and Yale University.
But for reasons unknown, the Department of Home Security (DHS) detained the professor from entry into the U.S upon arriving at Boston Airport, advising the medical specialist she was to be deported. Nevertheless a U.S. district court judge, Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts on March 14th ordered that Alawieh should not be deported without 48 hours’ notice and a reason why from DHS, AXIOS reported.
Instead, according to a notice of apparent violation, DHS ‘willfully’ disregarded the court order and deported Alawieh to France, Friday evening, with a scheduled flight to continue on to Lebanon on Sunday, ABC News reported.
A legal filing from Brown’s Division of Nephrology stated it was ‘extremely distressed.’
‘She is an assistant professor and has serious responsibilities,’ the document attested. ‘Her colleagues have been covering for her, but that is no solution. Dr. Alawieh is an outstanding academic in Transplant Nephrology, and she is needed at Brown Medicine.’
Responding to queries as to why Alawieh was denied entry into the U.S, the Customs and Border Protection shared a statement saying: ‘Arriving aliens bear the burden of establishing admissibility to the United States. Our CBP Officers adhere to strict protocols to identify and stop threats, using rigorous screening, vetting, strong law enforcement partnerships, and keen inspectional skills to keep threats out of the country. CBP is committed to protecting the United States from national security threats.’
Targeting of unwanted migrants?
Come Sunday, a federal judge responding to a lawsuit filed by Alawieh’s cousin, Yara Chehab ordered the Trump administration to respond to allegations that U.S. immigration enforcement ‘willfully disobeyed’ an order halting the deportation of a Rhode Island doctor.
Judge Sorokin ordered the government to respond by Monday morning to the ‘serious allegations’ that it intentionally breached a court order. A hearing in Alawieh’s case is set for Monday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the largest Muslim advocacy organizations in the U.S., has since called for the Trump administration to ‘immediately readmit’ Alawieh.
‘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,’ CAIR said.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering travel bans on people from up to 43 countries, the New York Times reported Friday. Lebanon is not on the list, which is subject to change.
This would not be the first time the Trump administration moved to deport someone who was in the U.S. legally. It comes just one week after federal authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and protest leader, despite him being a legal permanent resident in the U.S.
Similarly the episode follows the Trump administration deporting hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador under seldom-used wartime powers, despite a federal judge’s order temporarily barring such deportations.
