Doctor and Professor Is Deported Despite a Judge's Order

[femmedem]

Last edited Mon Mar 17, 2025, 07:03 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: New York Times

"A kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University’s medical school has been deported from the United States, even though she had a valid visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion, according to her lawyer and court papers.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, a Lebanese citizen who had traveled to Lebanon last month to visit relatives, was detained on Thursday when she returned to the United States, according to a court complaint filed by her cousin Yara Chehab.

Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts ordered the government on Friday evening to provide the court with 48 hours’ notice before deporting Dr. Alawieh. But she was put on a flight to Paris, presumably on her way to Lebanon.

In a second order filed Sunday morning, the judge said there was reason to believe U.S. Customs and Border Protection had willfully disobeyed his previous order to give the court notice before expelling the doctor. He said he had followed “common practice in this district as it has been for years,” and ordered the federal agency to respond to what he called “serious allegations.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/us/brown-university-rasha-alawieh-professor-deported.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4U4.q8Hm.0tnbGWknfwz_&smid=url-share

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Gifted article; no paywall.

Edited to add that since I originally posted this, the New York Times has changed the headline to "Brown University Professor Is Deported Despite a Judge’s Order."

[Egwinsi]

1. Judicial checks on the Executive

Are seemingly insufficient. This admin relies on speed to bypass "bureaucracy". Courts are not expeditious in nature.

But, even if they were to enact a TRO, who enforces it? The executive? Good luck.

[RandomNumbers]

6. Yes, "who enforces it?" is turning out to be a key question.

[mdbl]

19. No one. They were all fired.

By the Bulldoger.

[MadameButterfly]

43. Until people are charged

and arrested for flouting court orders they are meaningless.
The question becomes, will our law enforcement personnel enforce court orders if so charged, or will they just listen to Trump.
Is law enforcement interested in laws. Are they Trumpers. Or are the more scared of Trump than the courts.

[Gingermolly]

2. This is serious

and demands widespread coverage. It's the beginning of "First they came for....."

[bluestarone]

3. I feel the crack in our constitution

SPLITTING wide open!! Immediate supreme court decision on this is needed!

[Keepthesoulalive]

5. The writers of the constitution

Made the assumption the presidents ,the judicial branch and legislative branch would be men of property and honor.
They never imagined a two bit crook from Queens could become president and the other branches are as corrupt as he is.

[Biophilic]

7. I think many of us believed they would be men of honor.

Unfortunately, we seem to have bred honor right out of a large portion of our population. And that is truly tragic, on Shakespearian levels.

[Shipwack]

11. I think that they were more pragmatic than that.

I think they assumed that neither the courts nor the Congress would ever be willing to cede their power to another branch.

They didn't factor in the possibility of people who valued their political goals more than power...

[hadEnuf]

16. I think they expected that we would have forced out the tyrannical government by now.

And threatened to water the tree of liberty if they didn't go.

[Shipwack]

22. You're not wrong... nt

[mdbl]

20. with such low moral and ethical standards.

Breaking society in front of everyone's face.

[sop]

4. It's official: the checks and balances in our Constitution are dead letter law, Trump now reigns supreme..

[GiqueCee]

8. And the most corrupt president in American history...

... is the embodiment of pure, malignant evil. His form of "government" is called patrimonialism. He must be stopped.

[sop]

9. Hopefully, Trump will end up like former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court

facing charges of crimes against humanity. During Trump's first term he and Duterte were engaged in a bromance; they chatted often and Trump publicly praised Duterte's brutal approach to governing.

[GiqueCee]

50. We can't afford to wait that long...

... there won't be an America left to mourn. People don't seem – or don't want – to grasp the enormity of this crisis. Trump's über psycho in charge of the border, Homan, says he doesn't care what judges think! Trump and his Gestapo are giving the Supreme Court the finger, and saying, whaddya gonna do about it? America will be a puddle of blood and bone before The Hague gets its wig on, never mind actually doing something about this monster. And nobody wants to acknowledge the bear fucking the elephant in the room: Everything Trump says and does is in service to Putin's psychotic obsession with destroying this country, and Republicans are fine with it; they want to rule over the ashes of whatever is left.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for less than this.

[orangecrush]

24. Ain't gonna happen

[moonshinegnomie]

10. its time for judges to start locking up administration officials for contempt

step 1: order them to appear in court
step 2: if the appear then send them directly to jail
step 3: if they refuse to appear order us marshalls to arrest them
step 4: if the administration orders teh marshals to disobey the order and refuses to comply then we might as well rip up the constutution because thats a recipe for civil war

[Phoenix61]

13. Lock up the lawyers. nt

[moonshinegnomie]

15. Or

Find local police (instead of federal Marshalls) to haul them into court. If the administration complains then to fucking bad. Hold them on state prisons instead of federal.
After all if they can ignore a court order then the court can ignore federal jurisdiction

[hadEnuf]

18. The chances or a peaceful resolution shrink everyday this continues.

The law and the constitution must be enforced. Better for judges to put their foot down now while they still have feet.

[republianmushroom]

26. Past time. IMO

[mn9driver]

12. The US is now a fascist oligarchy, right out in the open.

That’s just a fact. The institutions that could put a stop to this are not going to do so. The constitution no longer functions. That didn’t take long.

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. Okay.

Now, what?

[mn9driver]

23. An excellent question.

Something will need to change. Either Congress or the Courts or both, need to find new and effective ways of exerting their power against an openly and intentionally criminal Executive.

I don’t know how or if they can do that. Maybe someone does.

[OldBaldy1701E]

44. Both of those are constructs of The Constitution.

The Constitution was created by people. Us. The ultimate power rests with us. There is no magical entity that is going to swoop down and save us. If we are to be saved, then we have to do the saving. As long as we sit here waiting for salvation, we will never see it.

We are the power. We have been taught and tricked by the oligarchs to believe that we have no power, and the success of that programming is evident every single time I see someone talk about how 'they' are supposed to do something. But, we are the power.

As soon as we start understanding what this means, then we will be able to save the nation.

[MLWR]

17. There are certain people

who I hope get kidney disease. You all here know whom I mean.

[Attilatheblond]

21. He's pissing all over the courts and what is the response?

The nation has died?

[Daleuhlmann]

25. So Court Orders Mean NOTHING to the Executive Branch?

This was BLATANT Contempt of Court and defiance of law. Somebody needs to go to jail and be kept there EVERY day until Dr. Alawieh is returned to the U. S. This illegal action also demonstrates Trump's growing insanity and evil. He really believes he IS Supreme Ruler, and that he can even defy court orders with impunuty. SCOTUS needs to step in and stop him right NOW!

[defacto7]

31. And how would the SCOTUS enforce it?

[moniss]

27. At the very least the CBP personnel who took part

in this at the airport should be hauled into court for defying a lawful order and, apparently, acting upon an illegal order. Anything short of that would mean anything goes. If anything goes then there is carte blanche to sue them for damages, get a quick judgement and seize their assets. Legal process needed? What legal process? That's been tossed aside in this country.

[Easterncedar]

45. Yes, right...

Except….who is going to haul them in?

[moniss]

46. Yes I know it's an "ought to" rather than "will happen". nt

[Easterncedar]

48. Dreaming is the first step to a better future

[Joinfortmill]

28. It seems clear Presidents have too much power and not enough controls on them.

[walkingman]

29. I'm nor religious but I wish there was a HELL because these folks will definitely be there...

I do believe in KARMA and I would be careful assholes because your time is coming - them and all of their racist supporters.

[no_hypocrisy]

30. If defiance of court orders isn't addressed and stopped now,

what's to prevent TSF from pointing his stubby finger at any of us, revoke our birthright citizenship (e.g., we were born in the U.S.; our parents were born in the U.S.; our grandparents were born in the U.S., etc.) and deport us for any reason?

[58Sunliner]

33. Exactly.

[bluestarone]

52. YES! agree.

I fear it's going to be up to the true Americans to get involved. (i'm ready_)

[58Sunliner]

32. A kidney transplant specialist. JFC.

[madville]

54. They say she attended a Hezbollah

She allegedly told Customs officials she traveled to Lebanon where she attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. Sadly, not letting someone back into the country for some bullshit reason

occurs far too often.

[madville]

57. Attending the funeral of the Hezbollah leader

Is a BS reason?

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/17/us/brown-university-doctor-deported-hnk

[stoned]

35. More to the story

so what's missing?

[iemanja]

36. The Trump administration refused to give a reason for her deportation,

according to the article.

[stoned]

37. Was she NTA'd?

Or was there a warrant? A FOIA request should solve this. There *must* legally be a reason, at least on the order of deportation. And she should have left with copies of all documentation.

[iemanja]

38. Not for Trump. nt

[Prairie Gates]

39. "There *must* legally be a reason"

How cute!

[stoned]

40. Well, its true

The reason must be within the confines of the law and it must be listed on the deportation order.

[Skittles]

41. LOL

we're talking about TRUMP and his BOOTLICKERS - they don't give a DAMN about the Constitution or Rule of Law

[Torchlight]

47. Hopefully, you'll research the answers and inform us of your findings.

Looking forward to it!

[madville]

53. Went to a Hezbollah funeral they say

She allegedly told Customs officials she had traveled to Lebanon to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

[iemanja]

55. Who is they?

In your “they say”? Why wouldn’t the Trump administration cite that in its filings? Was Nasrallah buried in Lebanon or Palestine? This woman went to Lebanon. Also Nasrallah has to have been buried some time ago.

There was a standing court order denying her deportation. Do you think it acceptable for the Trump administration to violate the law?

[madville]

56. The Administration and Media

Are the “they”. According to the reports she told customs the funeral was the reason for her trip when they found pictures of multiple Hezbollah leaders saved on her phone.

This article explains it well:

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/17/us/brown-university-doctor-deported-hnk

IF it’s all true, associating with a major terrorist organization should be a valid reason for having a work visa revoked regardless of the administration.

[iemanja]

58. I agree that would be grounds for removal

but I think it essential the Trump administration follow legal procedures, and support for their refusal to do so is something I find troubling.

[madville]

59. She was denied re-entry

She technically wasn’t readmitted back into the U.S. yet. I’m not siding with the Administration, just provided their side of the story. If what they say is true, then she’s at best naive that associating with Hezbollah in person would be allowed here. But yes, it should have worked its way through the court, that could take years of her potentially being in custody though.

[Seinan Sensei]

42. Karma should dictate that

ICE Director Tom Homan, and all his minions, should be diagnosed tomorrow with Stage IV Kidney Disease

[BlueKota]

49. Who could have predicted he would be defying the courts?

[SWBTATTReg]

51. So tRUMP won't pay attention to a judge's order to turn the planes around and return to the USA? Well now, that

shines a light now on truly ignoring all of tRUMP's executive orders...all of them. If he's not going to follow the law, a judge's orders, then why in the hell should we?