Homeland Security officers found photos of Hezbollah “militants” on the phone of a Lebanese doctor, causing them to deny her entry and to ultimately have her deported from the U.S., the government told a federal judge on Monday.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh had an H-1B visitor’s visa and worked as a professor at Brown University. But when she flew into Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, Customs and Border Protection officers denied her entry and later had her ousted.
A judge had issued an order on Friday barring Dr. Alawieh from being taken outside of Massachusetts, but a plane departed with the doctor anyway.
CBP, in court documents, said the plane was already gone by the time word reached the airport of the judge’s order.
Court documents also shed light on why the doctor was ousted.
CBP found what it called “sympathetic” images of Hezbollah leaders on her cellphone.
“With the discovery of these photographs and videos CHP questioned Dr. Alawieh and determined that her true intentions in the United States could not be determined,” the documents allege, according to The Providence Journal.
The judge had scheduled an emergency hearing for Monday morning but canceled it after CBP’s new information.
The case comes as President Trump is flexing his deportation powers and testing judges.
In Washington, a federal judge had ordered a halt to deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act. But Homeland Security said some had already been “removed from United States territory” before the court’s order.
