Court Hearing for Brown University Physician Abruptly Canceled

A federal judge decided against holding a scheduled hearing on Monday for a physician deported to Lebanon. The judge had earlier sought clarification on whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intentionally ignored his order to prevent her deportation while it was being contested.

Government lawyers stated that Rasha Alawieh, a medical expert specializing in transplants and education at Brown University, left the U.S. before the CBP at Boston’s Logan Airport received Judge Leo Sorokin’s directive to halt the deportation.

Unanticipated Departure

Alawieh was apprehended after returning from Lebanon, where she had visited, according to a legal motion filed by a relative. Despite the judge's instruction on Friday to keep her in the U.S. and present her in court on Monday, she was already en route to Lebanon by the morning of the court date, as noted in Judge Sorokin's order.

Allegations and Government Response

A statement from the Department of Homeland Security cited Alawieh’s admission of attending a funeral in Beirut for a Hezbollah leader, prompting their action to deny visa issuance based on the grounds of national security concerns related to terrorist affiliations.

The legal counsel for Alawieh’s family has criticized the government for seemingly ignoring the court mandate and questioned why CBP removed her despite the existing order. The government made a confidential filing which included an affidavit confirming the agency's consistent adherence to judicial orders.

Visas and Immigration Scrutiny

Since her arrival in 2018 with an H-1B visa, Alawieh had actively engaged in patient care related to kidney transplantation. Her recent visa, granted in March, did not preclude her from being detained or deported, raising concerns amid ongoing immigration policies targeting certain visa category holders linked to academia.

Customs and Border Protection underscored its thorough processes in verifying the eligibility of foreign nationals entering the U.S., maintaining that they follow strict protocols to mitigate potential security threats.