On Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, Mohammad Shahab Dehghani Hossein arrived at Boston Logan International Airport. The purpose of his arrival was to return to Northeastern University to continue working towards his Bachelor of Science degree in economics and mathematics. Dehghani was attempting to reenter the United States on his valid F-1 student visa. An F-1 student visa is a non-immigrant student visa that permits international students to pursue an education in the United States. Typically, this visa should allow easy access through the various airport checks. However, Dehghani’s lawyer, Kerry Doyle, explained that the Northeastern University student was detained and eventually deported on a flight to France the next day. Prior to his deportation, Judge Allison D. Burroughs ordered that Dehghani’s removal be halted for a minimum of 48 hours. Customs and Border Protection claim that they were unaware of the federal court order at the time of Dehghani’s deportation, hence they did not heed the court order. Since Dehghani is no longer in the United States, his case is no longer valid, according to the judge’s in his court case on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
In response to Dehghani’s deportation, Northeastern issued a statement saying, “We believe that a clear explanation is needed, especially because the deportation took place after a 48-hour extension was granted by a federal judge. Only in the most extreme instances should students have their academic pursuits interrupted by government intervention.” Northeastern is committed to searching for more answers from Customs and Border Protection.
This instance of deportation, while incredibly distressing for Dehghani and his friends and family, is not a unique event. A considerable number of Iranian students, like Dehghani, have recently been barred from entering and reentering the United States for study at higher learning institutions. Moreover, while some of these students are denied entrance and sent home after making the long journey to the United States, others are prevented from even flying to the United States. These occurrences are often in Istanbul, Turkey, and Doha, Qatar airports. Many activists are pointing specifically to the very airport where Dehghani was deported from, Boston Logan International, as the leader in Iranian student deportations. There is no data that accounts for this number in particular, due in part to the haphazard and unfounded nature of these occurrences. However, one correlation is a significant increase in the prevention of Iranian students from entering the United States following the implementation of President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Trump’s travel ban was first enacted on Jan. 27, 2017. It has been colloquially known as the Muslim ban, due to seven Muslim majority nations being on the list of banned countries. Since its first application, there have been numerous amendments. The most recent of these was on Jan. 31, 2017, which expanded the travel ban to include six more countries, primarily from Africa. The current list of countries under the restrictions of the travel ban is as follows: Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen.
Still, the travel ban is not a valid reason for the uptick in deportations of Iranian students, like Dehghani, as the ban does not restrict the entrance of those with a student visa. If a student from one of the restricted countries is seeking education in the United States on a valid F-1 student visa, then they have no extra restrictions or requirements compared to international students from non-restricted countries. This should mean that every student with a valid F-1 student visa should be treated the same, regardless of which country they originate from.
Many activists who oppose the deportation of Iranian students, as well as the travel ban in general, claim that these instances are steeped in racism, xenophobia, and religious discrimination. While on the campaign circuit, Trump did state that he wanted “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” This statement seems to be in direct contrast with the ideals that the United States was built on, including the First Amendment of the Constitution, which protects religious freedoms.
In addition, Iranian students have reported being asked unprecedented and arbitrary questions while trying to enter the United States legally, such as those about religious affiliations, dating preferences, and future career or education plans. Many have also mentioned that they and their belongings — including their phones, laptops, and hard drives — were searched to a higher degree than usual. Overall, deported Iranian students say that they were treated harshly, and were often removed from the country without a valid, legal reason as to why their visas were being revoked. Obtaining and utilizing an F-1 student visa is a lengthy and difficult process that all international students face, yet Iranian students are often given more hoops to jump through than students from other countries. It certainly seems as though many students are facing discrimination through racial and religious profiling at the hands of Customs and Border Protection agents.
As tensions between Iran and the United States continue to rise, it appears that an increasing number of Iranian students will be prevented from studying in the United States due to wrongful deportation.