BOSTON — Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a physician affiliated with Brown Medicine, was deported to Lebanon on March 15, 2025, after Homeland Security officials discovered she attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and openly expressed support for him.
Alawieh, 34, was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers upon her arrival at Boston Logan International Airport on March 13. According to Homeland Security officials, Alawieh admitted attending Nasrallah’s funeral and supporting him, prompting authorities to revoke her valid U.S. visa and deport her.
“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,” Homeland Security said in a statement on social media.
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’s deportation occurred despite an order issued by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin which scheduled an in-person hearing on her case for Monday, March 17. Government lawyers said Customs and Border Protection officials at Logan Airport were not notified about the judge’s ruling until after Alawieh had departed the country.
Alawieh previously worked at Brown Medicine, a non-profit medical practice affiliated with Brown University’s medical school, and was scheduled to begin working as an assistant professor of medicine at Brown but had not yet started in that role.
Colleagues from Brown Medicine expressed concern over her deportation, describing her as an “outstanding” clinician and an essential specialist—one of only three transplant nephrologists in Rhode Island. Dr. Douglas Shemin, who hired Alawieh, called her absence a major loss, noting Brown Medicine currently has about 300-400 kidney transplant patients requiring ongoing care.
A rally supporting Alawieh was scheduled to take place at the Rhode Island Statehouse on March 17.
