The family of a Brown Medicine doctor is alleging that U.S. Customs and Border Protection removed her from the country despite a federal judge ordering CBP to provide the court 48 hours’ notice.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh held a valid H-1B temporary visa in her passport when she arrived in Boston on Thursday morning after visiting family in Lebanon, according to her Cranston-based lawyer, Thomas Brown.
After a family member learned Alawieh had been detained by CBP at Logan Airport, they contacted her attorneys, who filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop her removal. On Friday, Federal District Judge Leo T. Sorokin ordered that Alawieh not be removed from Massachusetts without 48 hours’ notice.
On Sunday, Sorokin ordered lawyers for the government to respond to “serious allegations” submitted in an affidavit by Alawieh’s lawyers that CBP received the court order and “nonetheless thereafter ‘wilfully’ disobeyed the Order by sending her out of the United States.” Sorokin expects government attorneys to respond before a hearing scheduled for Monday morning.
The Boston Globe first reported on Friday evening that Alawieh had been prevented from re-entering the U.S.
A CBP spokesman declined to answer questions about Alawieh’s case. CBP Assistant Commissioner of Public Affairs Hilton Beckham provided a statement.
“Arriving aliens bear the burden of establishing admissibility to the United States,” Beckham’s statement said. “Our CBP Officers adhere to strict protocols to identify and stop threats, using rigorous screening, vetting, strong law enforcement partnerships, and keen inspectional skills to keep threats out of the country. CBP is committed to protecting the United States from national security threats.”
U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, a Democrat who represents part of Providence, said his office has been searching for answers about Alawieh’s detainment, “including the apparent violation of a federal judge’s order.”
Alawieh, who has a specialty in transplant nephrology, has been working under her H-1B visa in the Division of Kidney Disease & Hypertension at Brown Medicine since last year. She works on the transplant service at Rhode Island Hospital and holds a clinical appointment at Brown University.
“She is a thoughtful, careful, concerned doctor. She takes great care of her patients,” said Dr. George Bayliss, medical director of the organ transplant service at Rhode Island Hospital. “We are all very pleased that she’s our colleague. And, you know, we want to have her back with us.”
The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to petition the government to allow a highly educated foreign professional to work in a “specialty” occupation on a temporary basis. Typically, an H-1B visa allows one to live and work in the U.S. for an initial period of three years, which may be extended for up to six years, according to the American Immigration Council.
Bayliss said Alawieh had planned a two-week trip to Lebanon in February. She was excited to see her parents, whom she had not seen for years, especially given the recent war there. During her stay, she emailed colleagues to say that she had to extend her trip because her visa was under administrative review by the U.S. embassy.
Ultimately, Bayliss said, Alawieh told her colleagues that any issues had been resolved and she expected to be back at work on Friday. Her absence has already impacted patient care in the transplant clinic, Bayliss said.
“It’s going to back up our ability to see her patients — it’s going to add to the load of covering the hospital service,” Bayliss said. “Not to say ‘Woe is us.’ We’re happy to cover her as long as we get her back.”
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio.
