Rasha Alawieh, M.D. is a Lebanese transplant nephrologist. She had worked as an assistant professor at Brown University. Alawieh gained media attention after she was denied re-entry to the United States in March 2025 and deported to Lebanon despite having a H-1B visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion. Have you heard the news event mentioned above?

Dr. Alawieh visited Lebanon in February 2025 to see relatives. During her stay, she attended the funeral of Lebanese Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah. Nasrallah was killed from an Israeli strike. She had taken photographs from that funeral, had photographs also of Ali Khamenei (ex-Supreme leader of Iran, and Hezbollah militants and later deleted them from her phone about three days before her flight back to Boston. Upon her arrival, she provided her smartphone to the customs agent whom located these deleted photographs from her phone. Her reasoning for the photos were spiritual in importance and not political. Dr. Rasha Alawieh was deported back to Lebanon even while a Federal judge had ruled, he wanted to determine the facts himself. Supposedly, the court order was not followed even though a copy of the court order was presented to Customs at Logan Airport. Do you believe that U.S. Customs should have detained this doctor for the Federal court order, instead of simply deporting her?

Dr. Rasha Alawieh is a nephrologist. Colleagues say Alawieh is among just a few Rhode Island nephrologists. Dr. Susie Hu, interim director of Brown Medicine's Division of Kidney Transplant & Hypertension, was among Alawieh supporters in court Monday. She said Alawieh was a highly competent doctor, devoted to her patients. As to the photographs found on her phone, Hu said everyone has all kinds of photographs on their phones and these photographs in no way implicated her as a terrorist sympathizer, she said. Dr. Douglas Shemin, former director of the division, said Alawieh, who had studied and worked in the United States for six years, was hired last July after a national search. He said she is one of only three trained nephrologists in Rhode Island and desperately needed. Both Hu and Shemin said they had never heard Alawieh talk about politics and that the division had a diverse staff of doctors. Alawieh worked at Rhode Island Hospital evaluating potential kidney transplant recipients and followed the progress of those patients after their procedures. The Division of Kidney Transplant & Hypertension has 1,300 patients enrolled in the program, said Hu. What is your opinion regarding Dr. Alawieh's bedside manner? Do you believe being among only three trained nephrologists serving in Rhode Island, her deportation will have far less holders of foreigners in any employment here deciding to travel outside the country possessing their H-1B visa? Being that their own chances of being denied re-entry to the United States may not be worth the risk to them?