The University has once again found itself in the national headlines after the deportation of Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Rasha Alawieh. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ordered the Trump administration to give the court 48 hours’ notice before removing Alawieh from Massachusetts. Despite court orders to hold her deportation, immigration officials moved forward with her removal to Lebanon. They later claimed in a court filing they were notified of the order after Alawieh had already left the U.S. In typical Brown fashion, many students joined in protest against this perceived injustice at the Rhode Island State House.
National security concerns justify the deportation of Alawieh, but the Trump administration’s disregard for due process also exposes a threat to civil rights. While national security may warrant action, the real focus of outrage should be the administration’s compromise of due process, not the defense of alleged terrorist sympathizers.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Alawieh admitted to supporting the terrorist leader, not for his political ideology but for his spiritual and religious dogma. I don’t find myself agreeing with the Trump administration very often, but if this is not grounds for detention, what is? To say they are mutually exclusive is naive. A spokesperson from the Department exclaimed, “a visa is a privilege, not a right,” and once again, I’d have to agree. A sympathetic attitude toward terrorists responsible for the deaths of people is not an attitude the American republic should champion.
The focus of our outrage should not be who but how. The Trump administration’s flippant disregard for the rule of law is where Brown students and the greater public should take issue with this situation. We must recognize that bypassing legal safeguards undermines the rights of all individuals, regardless of background.
Harkening back to my previous column, supporting specific causes without rigorous interrogation harms the overall movement aiming to advance those causes. In this case, protesting the who — but not the how — damages the left’s resistance against Trump. By defending Alawieh’s actions, Brown students help him and other federal officials dismiss critiques of his authoritarian nature as liberal extremism in support of Hezbollah. Protesting the how is irrefutable: the Trump administration disobeyed a federal judge’s order — a clear violation of this country’s laws.
Due process is a pillar of our democracy outlined within our Constitution, and without it, the future of this nation is uncertain. Yes, I agree that an investigation should have been conducted into Alawieh’s actions, but that does not authorize the Trump administration to serve as both the judge and jury. Alawieh’s position as an H-1B visa holder affords her the right to a fair trial.
We should focus on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents’ alleged willful violation of the federal judge’s orders rather than exerting energy protecting those who support the religious teachings of the leader of a group that has killed hundreds of Americans. The injustice is not solely to Alawieh but to the United States Constitution, and us all.
Christian Davis ’27 can be reached at christian_davis@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
