Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a physician at Brown Medicine in Rhode Island, was detained at Boston Logan Airport last week upon returning from a trip to Lebanon. Despite a Friday court order blocking her removal and her possession of a "valid" H1-B visa, she has been forced to leave the country, her lawyer Thomas Brown told Newsweek on Sunday afternoon.
Newsweek has reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Brown Medicine for comment and confirmation via email on Sunday.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump made illegal immigration one of the focuses of his campaign to return to the White House, promising mass deportations and to reverse policies put in place by President Joe Biden's administration.
His rhetoric and moves to remove people who are in the country illegally has proven to be supported by most Americans in polling.
Allegations have emerged in recent weeks that the Trump administration has disregarded court orders on deportations and begun arrests with the lack of transparency surrounding these removals. The sudden escalation in detentions and deportations has intensified debates over civil liberties and legal due process.
What To Know
On Friday, a federal court ordered to halt the deportation of Alawieh, who was being held at the airport. Despite the order, she was placed on a flight from Boston to Paris on route to Lebanon.
A Friday filing by Alawieh's cousin, Yara Chehab, claims that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is "detaining Dr. Rasha Alawieh without any justification and without permitting them access to their counsel."
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 250 Venezuelans allegedly affiliated with MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs, were sent to El Salvador—despite a U.S. federal judge's order to temporarily halt the removals and turn back any planes carrying deportees.
Earlier this month, a Palestinian activist and former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested on campus by plainclothes officers. Khalil's arrest sparked serious concerns among advocates and students, raising questions about the right to protest, freedom of speech, political advocacy, and immigration status.
An assistant professor of medicine in the nephrology department at Brown Medicine, Alawieh, 34, was held at Logan Airport on Thursday upon returning from a two-week visit with her family in Lebanon. She has worked in Brown Medicine's Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension since July 2024, often helping evaluate potential transplant recipients and necessary follow ups.
She has been in the U.S. for the past six years, working and studying in several fellowships at top universities, including Ohio State University, University of Washington, and Yale. She graduated from the American University in Beirut in 2015.
"I can confirm that Dr. Alawieh had a valid H-1B temporary worker visa in her passport when she arrived at Logan Airport on Friday, March 14, 2025," Brown told Newsweek in an email Sunday.
He previously told The Providence Journal that there was a "wrinkle" with her application, but it was easy to work out as the U.S. government did ultimately issue the visa, telling the newspaper: "She was clear to return. She had the visa, she had the right passport. Everything was looking good."
Her H-1B visa, which allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers with specialized knowledge or expertise, was sponsored by Brown Medicine.
Brown also told The Providence Journal that her visa allowed her to be lawfully in the U.S. through the middle of 2027.
Chehab's filing noted that Alawieh has "serious responsibilities" at work and that "her colleagues have been covering for her, but that is no solution."
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Her attorney also told Newsweek that he had "not yet heard from Dr. Alawieh, as her phone was seized as part of her detention at Logan Airport." He stated that it's "virtually impossible to analyze the situation without confirming exactly [what] transpired at Logan Airport."
Just ahead of her deportation flight, on Friday, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ordered that Alawieh could not be moved out of Massachusetts without the court receiving 48 hours' notice and a reasoning for the transfer. The Boston Globe reported that the order did not reach immigration officials in time.
In a Sunday filing reviewed by Newsweek, the judge said there are grounds for believing that CBP ignored and disobeyed his first order.
Judge Sorokin said that "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 event."
What People Are Saying
Representative Gabe Amo, a Rhode Island Democrat, told Newsweek in an email Sunday: "Since Friday, my office and I have been directly engaged with local and national lawyers, as well as other Members of Congress, to assess the facts surrounding Dr. Alawieh, including the apparent violation of a federal judge's order. I remain committed to getting answers from the Department of Homeland Security to provide Dr. Alawieh, her family, her colleagues, and our community the clarity we all deserve."
Dr. George Bayliss, the medical director of Brown's organ transplant division, has been vocal on the matter, telling The New Arab: "This is a person who is legally entitled to be in the U.S., who is stopped from re-entering the country for reasons no one knows. It's depriving her patients of a good physician."
He also told The Brown Daily Herald: "My colleagues and I are outraged at Dr. Alawieh's detention and deportation without due process...Beyond the affront to democracy, this is wrong on a personal level."
Eric Feigl-Ding, a public health scientist and epidemiologist, wrote in an X, formerly Twitter, post on Saturday evening: "SICKENING—Trump's DHS just deported a surgeon from Brown University Medical School—who is here legally on an H1B visa that doesn't expire until 2027, and has committed no crimes. Trained in the U.S. at Ohio State, University of Washington, and Yale as a **transplant surgeon** (one of the most difficult surgical fields in all of medicine!!!), she is a highly trained doctor on kidney transplants, which cannot be easily replaced. Her phone was seized at the border. A federal judge handed down an injunction against her deportation—but she was already deported on a plane en route to Paris. Brown's kidney transplant clinic is now strained by her deportation."
Dr. Basma Merhi, a colleague at Brown Medicine, told The Providence Journal: "They are treating her [Alaweih] like a terrorist. It is ridiculous. She is an accomplished doctor, she is treating patients, who is treated like a criminal. And she is following all the rules. She is not doing anything wrong. And her Visa is valid."
What Happens Next?
Alawieh's attorney and family members believe she will land in Lebanon at some point on Sunday.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Monday, according to court documents reviewed by Newsweek. Sorokin ordered that the government's response is due ahead of the hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.
Update 3/16/25, 4:57 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information from court documents.
Update 3/16/25, 4:45 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and comment from Amo's office.
