The Trump administration has deported a Brown University professor and doctor after finding “sympathetic photos and videos” of leaders of the Hezbollah terror group on her phone.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese H1-B visa holder and kidney doctor at Brown Medicine in Rhode Island, had her visa revoked and was deported on March 14 after being arrested the day before. While arresting her, law enforcement officials found “various other Hezbollah militants” in the deleted images folder on her phone. She also admitted to attending the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 17, 2025
The court filing on Alawieh stated: “With the discovery of these photographs and videos CHP questioned Dr. Alawieh and determined that her true intentions in the United States could not be determined. As such CBP canceled her visa and deemed Dr. Alawieh inadmissible to the United States.”
The doctor has insisted that she only attended Nasrallah’s funeral “from a religious perspective” and not for political reasons.
Alawieh’s deportation came despite the fact that U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin had ordered that she could not be deported without the Trump administration giving 48 hours of notice to the court. The order came after Alawieh’s cousin filed a complaint to the U.S. District Court when she was detained. However, the Trump administration has insisted that they did not see the judge’s order until after the plane had already taken off.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is defending its decision as a move to protect Americans from national security threats.
“Arriving aliens bear the burden of establishing admissibility to the United States. Our CBP 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. CBP is committed to protecting the United States from national security threats,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) assistant commissioner of public affairs Hilton Beckham explained in a statement.
At the time of her arrest, Alawieh had been returning to the U.S. after obtaining an H1-B visa at the U.S. consulate in Lebanon. According to The Post Millennial, “H-1B visas are often used to allow immigrants with sought-after skills to be employed by a US company. She had been studying and working in the US for six years, and was working in Rhode Island since last July.”
Alawieh’s lawyers have since filed a legal briefing with the court claiming that “Customs and Border Patrol received actual notice of the court’s order [giving the court 48 notice before any deportation] and nonetheless thereafter ‘willfully’ disobeyed the order by sending her out of the United States.”
After Alawieh was deported, Sorokin appeared to agree with her lawyers’ argument, issuing an order that read: “These allegations are supported by a detailed and specific timeline in an under-oath affidavit filed by an attorney.”
The judge also called on federal authorities to “respond to these serious allegations with a legal and factual response setting forth its version of events.”
However, reports have indicated that Alawieh’s lawyers have since resigned from her case citing “due diligence.” It is unclear what exactly happened behind the scenes for them to make this decision.
Hearing canceled for Brown University doctor Rasha Alawieh deported to Lebanon
Her lawyers withdrew as a result of 'due diligence'
"Due diligence" used in contexts to refer to the process of investigating and verifying information before making a decision or taking an action 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Z2YmwkSYzR
— Joni Job (@jj_talking) March 17, 2025
