DHS says deported Brown University doctor attended funeral of 'brutal terrorist'

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Monday on the social platform X the deported assistant professor from Brown University’s medical school attended the funeral of a terrorist in Lebanon. 

The agency said Rasha Alawieh went to Lebanon in February to go to the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, a former secretary-general of Hezbollah.  

He was “responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree,” DHS said.  

“Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah,” the agency continued, referring to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). “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.” 

Alawieh, who was on an H-1B visa, was deported after a judge decided she would remain in the U.S., with the federal government saying in court filings that the agents who sent her out of the country were not aware of the court order before doing so. 

According to a court filing seen by Politico, the government says Alawieh also had “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hezbollah members in a deleted items folder on her phone.  

She told federal agents she followed Nasrallah’s teachings “from a religious perspective,” not a political one, Politico reported.  

The deportation came amid heightened tensions on campus after Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and former Columbia University student, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and another Columbia student had her visa revoked.