Constitutional protections against unlawful detention or imprisonment don’t apply to a deported Brown Medicine kidney doctor seeking to come back to the United States, the federal judge reviewing her case has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin’s Oct. 31 order ends Alawieh’s legal case against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents who detained her when she returned to Boston’s Logan International Airport on March 13, deporting her back to her native Lebanon 36 hours later. She remains in Lebanon and has been banned from reentering the United States for five years.
Alawieh through her attorneys had asked the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts to declare her removal unconstitutional, and reinstate the work visa that would let her return to her job in Rhode Island.
Sorokin’s 14-page dismissal of the case leaves unaddressed the merits of federal authorities’ claims linking Alawieh, who is Muslim, to Islamist terrorist leaders. Instead, the Massachusetts judge said the court lacks the jurisdictional authority to grant Alawieh’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus because she’s no longer in U.S. custody.
“As the Court will explain, the relief Alawieh seeks in this action is beyond what this Court can provide,” Sorokin wrote, later characterizing the lawsuit as “mooted.”
He continued, “Nearly all challenges to denials of discretionary relief or determinations related to the inspection and expedited removal of noncitizens arriving at the border are beyond the jurisdiction of any federal court.”
Alawieh, 34, had lived, worked and studied in the U.S. since 2018 under a series of legal visas that gave her “express permission” to do so, Sorokin wrote. But, he also acknowledged the “parlous decision” she made in returning to Lebanon in February — her first visit back in seven years.
“Having chosen to travel abroad, Alawieh faced inspection by immigration officers when she returned from her trip,” Sorokin wrote. “Alawieh’s years spent living lawfully in this country would not immunize her from such inspection. Her possession of a visa would not alter the inspection requirement either, nor would it guarantee her admission when she presented herself at the border. Thus, Alawieh’s decision to travel to Lebanon carried with it some risk, as the outcome of the necessary inspection was not a certainty.”
It was during this inspection that customs officers detained Alawieh, questioning her and looking through her cell phone, where they allegedly found pictures of various Hezbollah leaders. Alawieh also told customs officials when questioned that she attended a funeral event for the Islamist group’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, according to court filings.
The stadium event held in Beirut on Feb. 23 drew hundreds of thousands of attendees.
Attorneys with Muslim Advocates and Marzouk Law LLC representing Alawieh in the lawsuit did not respond to multiple requests for comment Tuesday and Wednesday. However, Golnaz Fakhimi, legal director of Muslim Advocates, issued a statement to the Boston Globe on Monday, saying lawyers are assessing the judge’s decision and considering potential next steps.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alawieh’s deportation sent shockwaves through Rhode Island’s medical community, prompting a protest outside the Rhode Island State House on the heels of her abrupt deportation in March. As one of three transplant nephrologists in Rhode Island, Alawieh provided life-saving care to patients who now have no doctor, according to court documents.
In addition to her job at Brown Medicine, the nonprofit, physician-led practice, which is affiliated with the Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Alawieh also had a clinical fellowship at Brown University, and consulted on cases out of Rhode Island Hospital, which is owned by Brown University Health.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
