BOSTON — A New England professor and doctor who has been deported to Lebanon attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, a Hezbollah leader and ‘brutal terrorist’ responsible for killing hundreds of Americans, federal officials said Monday.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, a kidney transplant doctor of Brown University Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island, was detained in Boston last week after visiting her parents overseas. She was sent back to Lebanon on Friday night.
Boston federal court Judge Leo Sorokin had issued an order not to deport Alawieh, who had an H-1B visa to work for Brown University Health, without first giving 48 hours’ notice to the court.
However, federal Department of Homeland Security officials said Monday that Alawieh openly admitted her support of Nasrallah to federal immigration officers. Authorities cited national security as grounds for denial of her visa.
“Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree,” Department of Homeland Security officials said in a statement.
“Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah,” federal officials said.
“A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security,” federal officials said.
A hearing scheduled for Monday concerning the deportation of Alawieh was canceled after most of the attorneys associated with the plaintiff withdrew from the case.
Monday night, supporters of Alawieh gathered at the Rhode Island State House lawn.
Colleagues of Alawieh told Boston 25 that her absence is detrimental to hundreds of patients in New England because few practice in her area of expertise.
“She manages the medical complications of kidney transplants and also determines, with the transplant surgeon, whether patients are eligible to receive transplants,” said Dr. Douglas Shemin, former director of the Division of Kidney Disease and Hypertension at Brown University Health.
Shemin said Alawieh was recruited last year and brought ‘outstanding’ qualifications to the table.
“She was the best candidate for the job and medically, her absence will be a loss for the men, women and children in our state who have chronic kidney disease and need kidney transplants,” Shemin said. “She is a lovely person. Intelligent, kind. Besides being an excellent physician, she’s also a lovely human being.”
Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) March 17, 2025
Alawieh confirmed she attended Nasrallah’s funeral while in Lebanon, as did tens of thousands of others.
According to court documents, when agents asked Alawieh if she supported Hezbollah and what the organization stands for, Alawieh answered “I don’t.”
Alawieh said she supports Nasrallah from a religious perspective, adding that other photos of Hezbollah members came to her from friends and family through WhatsApp.
“He is a religious, spiritual person,” Alawieh said of Nasrallah to federal agents, according to court documents. “As I said, he has very high value. His teachings are about spirituality and morality.”
An order from Sorokin had said the request from the attorneys representing Alawieh came “as a result of further diligence.”
Stephanie Marzouk, Alawieh’s attorney, told Boston 25 News, “Our client is in Lebanon and we’re not going to stop fighting to get her back in the U.S. to see her patients and we’re also going to make sure that the government follows the rule of law.”
A Brown spokesperson earlier confirmed to Boston 25 News that “Alawieh is an employee of Brown Medicine with a clinical appointment to Brown University.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its officers at Logan Airport did not receive notice of the order until after Alawieh “had already departed the United States,” according to Sorokin’s order Monday.
Sorokin was expected to hear a habeas corpus petition, which argued that she had a valid visa to enter the country. He was also expected to question federal authorities over Alawieh’s deportation.
Sorokin is now giving the government one week to provide the court with more information. Yara Chehab, who filed a motion on behalf of her cousin over the weekend in U.S. District Court that alleges customs officials “willfully” disobeyed Sorokin’s order, will have until March 31 to respond to the government’s request to dismiss the petition.
Documents that were filed ahead of the planned hearing alleged contents on Alawieh’s phone, including deleted photos of the leader of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, led to her detention and deportation. Other photos included Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
Federal immigration officials alleged in the documents that Alawieh deleted the photos one or two days before arriving in the United States.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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