Brown University professor and doctor was deported to Lebanon despite the judge's order
Brown University School of Medicine has been deported from the United States despite her valid visa and court orders temporarily blocking her expulsion, according to her attorney and court documents.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, is a Lebanese citizen who visited her country last month. She was detained on Thursday when she returned to the U.S. from the trip, according to a court complaint filed by her cousin Yara Chehab.
Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the Massachusetts Federal District Court ordered the government to provide 48-hour notice to the court Friday night before expelling Dr. Alawieh. But she was taken to Paris, probably on her way to Lebanon.
In a second order filed Sunday morning, the judge said there was reason to believe that our customs and border protections deliberately disobeyed his previous orders to issue a court notice before deporting the doctor. He said he followed “a common practice in this area, like it has been in the area for many years” and ordered federal agencies to respond to what he called “serious allegations.”
Customs and Border Protection did not answer the New York Times question on Sunday, saying why Dr. Alave was detained and deported. Lebanon is not included in a draft country that the Trump administration is considering banning entry into the United States.
A hearing on Dr. Alawieh's case is scheduled to take place on Monday.
Clare Saunders, a member of the legal team representing Ms. Chehab, provided court documents related to the case to The New York Times, who filed a petition to prevent her cousin from being deported and then asked for permission to return to the United States.
Ms Chaber's petition calls several members of the Trump administration accused, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Acting Customs and Border Protection Peter Flores.
Thomas Brown, an attorney representing Dr. Alavee and his employer Brown Medicine, said that when the doctor was in Lebanon, the U.S. consulate issued her an H-1B visa, which allowed highly skilled foreign citizens to live and work in the United States. Brown Medicine is a nonprofit medical practice that has sponsored her to apply for a visa.
When Dr. Alawieh landed at the Logan International Airport in Boston on Thursday, she was detained by customs and border protection officers for unknown reasons and was detained at the airport for 36 hours, according to Ms. Chehab's complaint.
Attorney Ms. Sanders said in the affidavit that she went to the airport on Friday and notified customs and border protection officials there – a court order prohibiting doctors from being fired before it was scheduled to fly to Paris. She said the officer did not take any action until the plane took off and gave her any information.
Dr. Alawieh graduated from Beirut University in 2015. Three years later, she came to the United States, where she held medical fellowships at Ohio State University and Washington University, and then worked as a resident at Yale University.
Before issuing a new visa, she held a J-1 visa commonly used by foreign students.
The shortage of American doctors working in Dr. Alawieh’s field of expertise, Kidney transplant. Experts say foreign-born doctors play an important role in the field.
Dr. George Bayliss said fear of immigration status could be “more hurtful to the pipeline”, working with Dr. Alawieh on the Brown Medicine Kidney Transplant Program.
Dr. Bayliss said her patients include people waiting for a transplant and those dealing with complex conditions that may occur after the transplant. He called Dr. Alave “a very talented and very considerate doctor.”
“We are all angry and we don't know why this is happening,” he added.
In a letter to university community members on Sunday, the Brown administration advised foreign students to “consider postponing or delaying individual travel outside the United States until the U.S. State Department gets more information.”
Susan C. Beachy Contributed to the research.
