There Are Photos And Videos Of Hezbollah, University Doctors In The US Deported To Lebanon

Hassan Nasrallah's funeral. (Wikimedia Commons/Khamenei.ir)

JAKARTA - United States authorities on Monday deported a Doctor from Brown University, Rhode Island to Lebanon last week, after finding photos and videos related to the Hezbollah militant group in a deleted item folder on his cell phone.

Rasha Alawieh, who is also an assistant professor at the university, said she attended the funeral of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah whom she supports from "religious perspectives" as a Shiite when questioned by federal agents.

The US Department of Justice provided these details while trying to convince federal judges in Boston that Customs and Excise officers and US Border Protection (CBP) did not intentionally disobey orders he issued on Friday that should have stopped Alawieh's direct deportation.

A Lebanese woman who holds an H-1B visa was questioned on Thursday at Logan International Airport, Boston after returning from a trip to Lebanon to meet her family.

His cousin then filed a lawsuit to stop his deportation.

The expulsion comes as US President Donald Trump's administration seeks to strictly limit border crossings and increase immigration arrests.

In his first public explanation for his expulsion, the Justice Department said Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist at Brown University, was denied re-entering the United States based on what CBP found on his phone and statements he made during an interview at the airport.

According to a transcript of the interview reviewed by Reuters, he told CBP he did not support Hezbollah but had great respect for Nasrallah for his religion.

"I'm not a political person," he said.

"I am a doctor. This is mainly about faith," he said.

It is known that the Western Government, including the United States, designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

Based on the statement and the discovery of photos of Nasrallah and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, on his cell phone, the Justice Department said CBP concluded "his true intention in the United States cannot be ascertained."

"Visa is a privilege, not a right, glorifying and supporting terrorists killing Americans is the reason for refusing visa issuance," US Department of Homeland Security spokesman totaling McLaughlin said in a statement.

"This is a reasonable security," he said.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Marzouk, Alawieh's cousin, Yara Chehab, told reporters outside the court on Monday they "will not stop fighting."

Hours later, hundreds of demonstrators, including some of their colleagues from the hospital, gathered at the Rhode Island State House yard in faraway to show their support, carrying banners that read "The visa is legal," "He did nothing wrong," and "Stop mass deportation now."

Brown University spokesman who is based in fact said it was trying to learn more about what happened.

Alawieh himself has worked at Brown Medicine, a non-profit medical practice affiliated with Brown's medical school.

Following the news of Alawieh's deportation, Brown University issued a guide on Sunday suggesting its students, staff, and international faculty to consider delaying or suspending private travel outside the United States "a pandemic of excessive caution."

In a filing on Monday, the Justice Department also defended CBP officials against claims by its cousin's legal team that Alawieh was flown abroad on Friday evening in violation of orders issued by US District Judge Leo Sorokin that day.

The judge has issued an order banning the transfer of Alawieh from Massachusetts without 48 hours of notice. However, he was boarded on a plane to France that night and is now returning to Lebanon.

Hakim on Sunday had directed the government to deal with "serious accusations" that its order was violated deliberately ahead of a trial scheduled for Monday.

The trial was canceled Monday at the request of the only remaining cousinic lawyer, after attorney at law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Schholer who represented him pro- bono resigned, citing "further tension" of the fast-moving case.

A lawyer at the firm said he went to the airport on Friday and showed CBP officers a copy of Sorokin's order on his laptop before Air France Alawieh's flight departed, and another CBP official said in a statement on Monday he was told it happened before bringing Alawieh to the departure area.

However, the Justice Department said the notification needed to be received through standard channels and by law advisers the agency should be reviewed and directed, which did not happen.

"CBP takes court orders seriously and seeks to always comply with court orders," the Justice Department attorney wrote.

The Justice Department's filing was later closed by Sorokin at the request of his cousin's lawyer. Reuters reviewed it from a public terminal in the court building before access was further restricted.