PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a doctor from Lebanon who was deported from Boston’s Logan Airport earlier this year despite having a visa. This ruling comes after significant public attention regarding her case.
In March, Dr. Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist at Brown University, was detained for more than 36 hours at Logan Airport. She was returning from Lebanon with her family when immigration officials detained her following her attendance at the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah.
Homeland Security officials stated they reviewed Alawieh’s phone and found images related to Hezbollah, which led to her arrest. Alawieh maintained that her interests were spiritual rather than political, although she admitted some family members supported his political views.
Alawieh's family quickly mobilized a legal campaign to challenge the deportation, bringing national attention to her plight. A federal judge initially ruled that she should not be removed until a hearing could be held; however, customs officials intervened before the hearing occurred.
Judge Sorokin's recent ruling emphasized that he did not have the jurisdiction to overturn the five-year ban on her return to the U.S. He cited Congress and a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2020 that limit the federal courts’ ability to intervene in fast-track deportation orders.
“The five-year bar on her return is not a consequence of the detention she originally challenged as unlawful. It is a feature of the expedited removal order which ultimately led to her release from detention,” Sorokin noted.
Alawieh's attorneys have yet to respond publicly following this latest decision, which reinforces the ongoing contentious debate around immigration policy in the U.S.
