Brown University, one of the most prestigious Ivy League universities in the U.S., has warned international students and faculty members not to travel abroad. The move comes after a professor at Brown University, who was about to return to the U.S. after a recent trip to Lebanon, was expelled.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 17th, Lasha Alawi, an assistant professor and specialist in the department of nephrology at Brown University, was detained at Boston Logan International Airport on the 13th while trying to re-enter the United States after traveling to her home country of Lebanon, and had to head back to Lebanon the next day. He was an “H-1B” visa holder. This is a visa given to high-skilled foreign workers, who can apply for an “EB-2” work immigration permanent residence and stay in the U.S. indefinitely after employment.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security explained that they attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who killed hundreds of Americans in 40 years of terrorism. The U.S. federal prosecutor also said on Alawi’s mobile phone that “there was a picture of Nasrallah, Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, and he deleted it just before returning to the U.S.”
However, Alawier told immigration agents that he did not support Hezbollah, the WSJ reported. As a Muslim, Alawier said Nasrallah was highly regarded as a religious leader of Shiite Islam, he “followed his religious and spiritual teachings, not politically.” He also claimed that the photos of Nasrallah and Khamenei were shared in WhatsApp group chat rooms where family and friends gather.
After graduating from the American University in Beirut in 2015, Alawi attended Ohio State University and the University of Washington for a medical fellowship and a residency at Yale University. She held the first foreign student visa, J-1 visa, and received an H1-B visa from the U.S. Consulate during her stay in Lebanon, and has been an assistant professor at Brown University since July last year.
After the incident, Brown University asked in an email to all members of the campus on the 16th, “People outside of the United States should postpone overseas travel or carefully consider postponing it even if they have a visa or permanent residence.” Brown University recently issued the recommendation ahead of next week’s spring vacation, saying the government’s policy on travel bans and re-entry requirements could “affect whether travelers can return to the United States.”
In addition to Brown University, major U.S. universities have recently asked their members to pay attention to the overseas travel process. Columbia University, where graduate student Mahmoud Khalil was recently arrested for leading an “anti-Semitic” protest at the university, also asked international students to “refrain from non-essential overseas travel.”
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
