Overview
- Vahid Abedini, an Iranian-studies professor at the University of Oklahoma, was detained on November 22 while boarding a flight to a Middle East Studies Association conference in Washington, D.C.
- Colleagues and a state lawmaker say Abedini holds a valid H-1B work visa used by higher-education faculty.
- The Logan County Sheriff's Office confirms a person named Vahid Abedini was booked at its facility and transferred to ICE's Oklahoma City office.
- ICE's online detainee locator now lists Abedini as in agency custody with his birthplace as Iran but does not show his current detention location.
- The University of Oklahoma declined to comment, and a friend told reporters she spoke with Abedini, who was in good spirits while in immigration custody; DHS says ICE is scaling up operations with new agents and expanded resources.