Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old Lebanese kidney specialist and Brown University assistant professor, was deported to Lebanon last week after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers uncovered her attendance at the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and her expressed support for him.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the move Monday, spotlighting it as a firm stance on national security under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Alawieh, who held a valid H-1B visa, was detained Thursday at Boston Logan International Airport upon returning from a family visit in Beirut.
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During questioning, she reportedly admitted to CBP officers that she traveled last month to attend Nasrallah’s funeral—held February 23 at Beirut’s Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, drawing tens of thousands.
Nasrallah, killed in a September 2024 Israeli airstrike, led Hezbollah for over three decades, orchestrating attacks that claimed hundreds of American lives, including the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. Alawieh also confessed to supporting him, though she later clarified to agents it was “from a religious perspective” as a Shia Muslim, not politically, per a DOJ filing.
“A visa is a privilege, not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security,” said DHS in a statement.
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CBP canceled Alawieh’s visa on the spot, barring her re-entry for five years after finding “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hezbollah figures, including Nasrallah and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in her phone’s deleted folder.
The deportation sparked a legal scuffle. Alawieh’s cousin filed a habeas corpus petition Friday evening, and U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ordered CBP not to move her without 48 hours’ notice.
But by 7:43 PM, she was on an Air France flight to Paris, landing in Lebanon Sunday. DHS insists CBP wasn’t formally notified of Sorokin’s order until after takeoff. A Monday hearing was scrapped after Alawieh’s legal team withdrew, rescheduling for March 25.
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Alawieh’s ouster underscores Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown, echoing recent moves like the March 9 arrest of Columbia grad Mahmoud Khalil for pro-Palestinian activism.
Her Rhode Island Hospital colleagues, like Dr. Susie Hu, mourn her absence—calling her “compassionate” and one of three transplant nephrologists in the state—but DHS stands unapologetic, framing her exit as a win for American safety.
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