Lebanese doctor barred from re-entering the US

Dr Rasha Alawieh, who lives and works in US, was stopped at Boston after trip to visit family in Beirut

A worker inside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters watches a protest calling for the release of pro-Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil in Washington, on March 14. EPA

A Lebanese doctor at Brown University was denied entry into the US after returning from a visit overseas to her family, according to a petition filed in US District Court in Massachusetts.

Dr Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist at Brown, a renowned university in Providence, Rhode Island, was returning to the US after a brief visit to her native Lebanon. Dr Alawieh, 34, was entering the US on an H1B visa issued by the US consulate in Beirut on March 11, the petition says.

But despite having a valid visa, she was detained at Boston’s Logan airport before eventually being put on a plane to Paris.

In a petition filed by her cousin Yaha Chehab, the family claimed that the federal government “unlawfully” detained the doctor “without any justification and without permitting access to their counsel.”

Dr Alawieh, who obtained her medical degree from the American University of Beirut, first moved to the US in 2018, where she completed a two-year fellowship in nephrology at Ohio State University. She has since held several fellowships and positions at various universities.

The petition names several Trump administration officials, including Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, Peter Flores, Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Ms Alawieh’s deportation comes as the Trump administration is reportedly considering a new tiered visa ban and has begun high-profile deportations in recent weeks.