Trump Officials Deport Brown University Doctor, Seemingly Defying Court Order

Trump Administration didn't approve of her religious beliefs, accused her of supporting terrorism

By Sharon Zhang , Truthout

The Trump administration is openly defying court orders blocking deportations of immigrants without due process — even going so far as to tout the deportations that are throwing countless people’s lives into chaos across the country.

This weekend, the Trump administration deported Brown University assistant professor and surgeon Rasha Alawieh to Lebanon, despite a Massachusetts court having ordered the administration not to remove her from the state that same day. Alawieh has a valid H-1B visa, court documents say, and has lived in the U.S. since 2018, where she finished her medical certification.

According to a court filing filed by her cousin on Friday, Alawieh was traveling back to the U.S. from her home country of Lebanon, where she was visiting family last month, when officials detained her “without any justification,” denying her access to legal counsel at Boston Logan International Airport. The U.S. District Court in Massachusetts ordered her not to be removed without at least 48 hours’ notice while the judge considered her case — but officials deported her anyway.

On Sunday, the judge filed another order saying that there was evidence that law enforcement agents had “willfully” disobeyed the court’s order, as “supported by a detailed and specific timeline in an under-oath affidavit filed by an attorney,” and has ordered the administration to respond to these “serious allegations.”

Lawyer Thomas Brown, who is representing Alawieh and Brown Medicine, has expressed confusion as to why officials deported the doctor. “We are at a loss as to why this happened,” said Brown in a statement. “I don’t know if it’s a byproduct of the Trump crackdown on immigration. I don’t know if it’s a travel ban or some other issue.”

ADDED NOTE: Steve Ahlquist at RIFuture.org spoke with one of Dr. Alawieh's colleague at Brown about what her loss means to Rhode Island:

Steve Ahlquist: How does Dr. Alawieh’s absence affect medical care in Rhode Island?

Dr. Paul Morrissey: She works in the Division of Organ Transplant. Three medical doctors do her work, and the other two will work hard to compensate for Rasha’s loss. It’s a very busy division. We take care of over 800 patients in Rhode Island, and she will be deeply missed. Her absence will have a strong and negative impact on our division.

The Trump administration is reportedly considering issuing a sweeping travel ban to 43 countries, according to a memo reported by news outlets over the weekend. Lebanon is not on that list.

The Justice Department alleged in a filing on Monday that Alawieh had “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hezbollah members on her phone. It claimed that Customs and Border Patrol would never defy a court order intentionally.

However, the administration has been touting the deportation of nearly 300 Venezuelan men on Sunday — alleged, without evidence, to be part of a gang — which officials also carried out in seeming defiance of a court determination. They were sent to a prison in El Salvador, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, which is notorious for its abuses against prisoners.

On Saturday, a U.S. district judge ordered the Trump administration not to carry out the deportations after officials invoked the ​​Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the text of which says that it is only allowed to be used during a declared war. Despite this, on Sunday, top Trump officials were openly bragging about the deportations. Vice President J.D. Vance shared an article on X citing administration officials who said that they did indeed ignore the order, but that it was unintentional.

The judge has ordered the administration to appear in a hearing on Monday to explain whether or not they violated his order.

U.S. officials — including under President Joe Biden — have long deported people and punished them without due process, sticking them in facilities with horrific conditions or sending them to countries where they may face violence or certain death.

The Trump administration seems to be accelerating the U.S.’s anti-immigrant crackdown, and widening the swath of people considered to be legitimate targets.

This includes people with green cards, like in the case of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, who the administration is seeking to deport due to his pro-Palestine activism; and a New Hampshire man, Fabian Schmidt, who was detained and apparently tortured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Boston Logan International Airport over the weekend after returning from Luxembourg for a trip. Schmidt was hospitalized from his injuries.

Both men are being held at immigration detention centers that are known for allegations of torture, medical neglect and other abuses.

Outlets have reported numerous other cases in recent weeks of people being deported or detained by ICE despite having legal status in the U.S.

Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky.