Renowned Doctor and Professor Deported from US Despite Visa and Court Order

Dr. Rasha Alavi, a kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University, was expelled from the United States despite having a valid visa and a court order temporarily blocking her deportation, writes The New York Times.

Photo: Shutterstock

Rasha Alavi, 34, a Lebanese citizen, traveled to her home country last month to visit relatives. She was detained upon her return to the U.S. on March 13, according to a complaint filed by her cousin, Yara Shehab.

Massachusetts District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin told the government on March 14 that he had to notify the court 48 hours before Dr. Alavi could be deported. But she was put on a flight to Paris that same day, presumably to Lebanon.

On the subject: Immigration officers asked to take part in deportations, although they are supposed to deal with legal migrants

In a second order filed early on March 16, the judge said there was reason to believe that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had willfully ignored his earlier ruling. He emphasized that he had followed “the generally accepted practice in this district for many years” and demanded that the federal agency explain the “serious allegations.”

Customs and Border Protection did not respond to inquiries from The New York Times about why Dr. Allawi was detained and expelled. Lebanon is not on the Trump administration’s preliminary list of countries that it is considering banning from entering the United States.

Dr. Alavi's hearing is scheduled for March 17.

The court documents were provided to The New York Times by Claire Saunders, a member of the legal team representing Yara Shehab, who filed a motion first to prevent her cousin's deportation and then to allow her to return to the United States.

Shehab's motion names several members of the Trump administration as defendants, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Peter Flores.

Attorney Thomas Brown, who represents Dr. Alavi and her employer, Brown Medicine, said that while in Lebanon, Dr. Alavi obtained an H-1B visa, which allows highly skilled foreigners to live and work in the United States. Her visa application was sponsored by Brown Medicine.

According to Shehab's complaint, when Dr. Alavi arrived at Boston's Logan International Airport on March 13, she was detained by Customs and Border Protection agents and held for 36 hours for unclear reasons.

Saunders' attorney testified under oath that she arrived at the airport on March 14 and notified Customs and Border Protection officers of the court order preventing deportation before the flight to Paris took off. However, she said officers did nothing or provide information until after the plane had taken off.

Dr. Alavi graduated from the American University of Beirut in 2015. Three years later, she came to the United States, where she completed medical training at Ohio State University and the University of Washington, and then worked as a resident at Yale.

Before receiving the new H-1B visa, she held a J-1 visa, which is typically issued to foreign students.

There is a shortage of doctors in the field of kidney transplantation in the United States, and foreign specialists are essential. Fears about immigration status could further exacerbate the shortage, said Dr. George Bayliss, who works with Dr. Alavi in ​​Brown Medicine’s kidney transplant program.

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Dr. Alavi's patients included people awaiting transplants and those who had complications after surgery. Dr. Bayliss called his colleague "a very talented and thoughtful physician."

"We are all furious and don't understand why this happened," he said.

Brown University officials sent a letter to the university community on Sunday advising international students to refrain from traveling outside the United States during spring break until they receive additional information from the State Department.

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