A federal judge on Monday canceled a hearing for a doctor who was denied reentry to the U.S. and sent back to Lebanon despite his earlier order to keep her in the country. Immigration officials said they had found photos on Rasha Alawieh’s phone that appeared to depict Hezbollah fighters and she allegedly told them she had attended the funeral of a Hezbollah leader.
Lawyers for the government said the doctor “had already departed the United States” by the time Customs and Border Protection officers at Boston’s Logan Airport received notice of Judge Leo Sorokin‘s instructions, the judge said in a brief order Monday.
Alawieh, a Rhode Island transplant doctor and assistant professor at Brown University, was detained on Thursday in Boston after visiting family in Lebanon, her cousin claimed in a lawsuit challenging Alawieh’s detention.
Sorokin ordered on Friday that Alawieh be kept in the U.S. and brought to a court hearing on Monday. He wrote Monday morning that “Dr. Alawieh is now in Lebanon.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Monday that Alawieh had told Customs and Border Protection officers that she traveled to Beirut to attend the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
“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,” the DHS statement continued.
According to court documents filed by the government, Alawieh was questioned by a CBP officer about photos on her phone that appeared to depict Hezbollah fighters. Alawieh allegedly said they were shared by others within WhatsApp messaging groups of friends and family.
Alawieh allegedly said her interest in Nasrallah was in his standing as a religious figure within the Shia Muslim community, as opposed to his role as a political leader, according to the documents.
CBP spokeswoman Hilton Beckham said those “who promote extremist ideologies or carry terrorist propaganda are inadmissible to the U.S., plain and simple.”
“Officers act swiftly to deny entry to those who glorify terrorist organizations, advocate violence, or openly support terrorist leaders and commemorate their deaths,” Beckham said. “Anyone found with extremist materials linked to a U.S.-designated terrorist group will be removed.”
An attorney for Alawieh’s cousin did not immediately reply to questions sent by CBS News. On Sunday, Sorokin ordered the government to explain before the now-canceled Monday hearing why Alawieh was removed. Lawyers for her family claimed the government “willfully” disobeyed his order by sending Alawieh outside the U.S.
The government made a filing under seal, and Sorokin said in his latest order that the filing included an affidavit from a CBP watch commander and government attorneys said at “no time would CBP not take a court order seriously or fail to abide by a court’s order.”
Alawieh has been in the U.S. since 2018 on an H-1B visa. A transplant nephrology specialist, she was involved with the care of patients before, during and after receiving kidney transplants.
A lawsuit filed by Alawieh’s cousin claims she was issued a visa on March 11, and her family has not been provided with information explaining why Alawieh was detained or removed. President Trump’s crackdown on immigration has recently targeted university-affiliated visa holders who the administration claims have taken actions that are contrary to the national interest.
In a statement, Customs and Border Protection said “arriving aliens bear the burden of establishing admissibility to the United States.”
CBP went on to say that its 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.”
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]
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