An assistant professor from Brown University’s medical school with a valid visa was deported from the U.S. despite a judge’s order that she was not to be removed.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an appointee of President Obama, is set to hold a hearing Monday after Rasha Alawieh was deported back to Lebanon. The deportation came after Sorokin said Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist, was to stay.
Alawieh was detained on Thursday after returning to the U.S. following travel abroad. Sorokin on Friday ordered the government to provide 48 hours notice before deporting her, but she was then put on a flight out of the country.
Her attorneys argue that federal government “willfully” disobeyed the court order.
“These allegations are supported by a detailed and specific timeline in an under oath affidavit filed by an attorney. The government shall respond to these serious allegations with a legal and factual response setting forth its version of events,” the judge said.
Alawieh was on a H-1B visa that allowed her into the country to work at Brown. The federal government has not said why it is trying to deport her despite her valid visa.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.
The incident comes after the federal government began a deportation crackdown on college campuses starting with Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who recently graduated from Columbia University with a masters degree.
Khalil, described as the lead negotiator during the pro-Palestinian encampment at the university, is currently held in Immigration and Customs Enforcment’s custody as he awaits a court hearing.
“Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here,” President Trump wrote on social media.
DHS also recently searched two Columbia dorm rooms and revoked the student visa of another student from there.
