Ivy League institute Brown University has asked its international community to reconsider their foreign travel plans after Dr Rasha Alawieh was denied reentry to the country after her phone was checked at the airport and photos of Hezbollah leaders were found on it. Rasha, a kidney specialist, told the agents who intercepted her that she kept those photos received on WhatsApp for religious reasons, and not for any political reasons. She was, however, not granted entry to the country though she had a valid H-1B visa
In light of the incident, the university sent an email asking all international staff including green card holders to reconsider their vacation. “Out of an abundance of caution, we encourage international students, staff, faculty and scholars — including U.S. visa holders and permanent residents (or ‘green card holders’) — to consider postponing or delaying personal travel outside the United States until more information is available from the US Department of State,” said Russell Carey, Brown’s executive vice president for planning and policy.
The email called this a “period of great uncertainty” and said, “We feel it’s imperative to share reminders with Brown’s international community about travel outside the United States and to provide information about available campus resources.”
Alawieh said she attended Nasrallah’s funeral: ‘If you listen to his sermon’
Dr Alawieh was returning from Lebanon when she was stopped by federal agents. It’s not yet known whether they had any prior information about her. On being asked whether she supports Hezbollah and Ayatollah, she said, “I think if you listen to one of his sermons, you would know what I mean.”
“He is a religious, spiritual person. As I said, he has very high value. His teachings are about spirituality and morality.”
Alawieh said she attended Nasrallah’s February 23 funeral when she was in Lebanon. She said Nasrallah was a highly regarded religious leader.
A Lebanese citizen who was living in Rhode Island, Alawieh was approved for an H-1B visa last year to work in the Division of Nephrology at Brown University’s medical school – after studying at three US universities since 2018. She went to Lebanon for a short visit but got delayed because of her paperwork from the US Consulate in Beirut. Her paperwork was approved March 11, but when Alawieh arrived at the Boston airport two days later, she was immediately detained and told she would be sent back to Lebanon the next day.
