Brown University Doctor Deported Despite Court Order and Valid Visa

Dr. Rasha Alawieh’s removal raises legal and institutional concerns as federal agencies are accused of defying a judge’s directive.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and assistant professor at Brown University, was deported to Lebanon despite holding a valid H-1B visa issued days before her travel.
A federal judge had ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide 48 hours’ notice before deporting her, but she was placed on a flight to Paris the same evening the order was issued.
CBP cited national security concerns, pointing to Dr. Alawieh’s attendance at a Hezbollah leader’s funeral and alleged sympathetic materials found on her phone as grounds for her inadmissibility.
Her deportation has disrupted Brown Medicine’s kidney transplant program, where she was one of only three specialists in Rhode Island, affecting hundreds of patients awaiting care.
The case has prompted widespread public protests, institutional concern from Brown University, and legal challenges accusing the government of willfully defying judicial orders.