Incoming Harvard Freshman Deported After Visa Revoked

[GMDino]

We live in a very awful time, because of a very awful "man" who leads the country.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/8/27/incoming-freshman-deported/

Quote:UPDATED: Aug. 27, 2019 at 10:11 a.m.

While most Harvard freshmen settle into their dorms Tuesday, one new student, Ismail B. Ajjawi ’23, faces ongoing negotiations with immigration officers to allow him to enter the United States and study at the College.


U.S. officials deported Ajjawi, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday night shortly after he arrived at Boston Logan International Airport. Before canceling Ajjawi’s visa, immigration officers subjected him to hours of questioning — at one point leaving to search his phone and computer — according to a written statement by Ajjawi.


University officials are currently working to resolve the matter before classes begin on Sept. 3, Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in an email.


“The University is working closely with the student’s family and appropriate authorities to resolve this matter so that he can join his classmates in the coming days,” he wrote.


Harvard both employs immigration lawyers at the Office of the General Counsel and staffs the Harvard International Office. 
Both groups work to resolve visa-related problems like Ajjawi’s. Ajjawi wrote that he has been in contact with HIO Director of Immigration Services Maureen Martin.


Ajjawi wrote that he has also contacted AMIDEAST, the non-profit organization that awarded him a scholarship to study in the U.S., which is now providing him legal assistance.


A State Department official declined to comment specifically on Ajjawi's case as visa records are confidential under U.S. law. U. S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Michael S. McCarthy wrote in an emailed statement that CBP found Ajjawi "inadmissible" to the country.


"Applicants must demonstrate they are admissible into the U.S. by overcoming ALL grounds of inadmissibility including health-related grounds, criminality, security reasons, public charge, labor certification, illegal entrants and immigration violations, documentation requirements, and miscellaneous grounds," McCarthy wrote. "This individual was deemed inadmissible to the United States based on information discovered during the CBP inspection.”


Ajjawi wrote that he spent eight hours in Boston before he was required to leave. Upon arrival, Ajjawi faced questioning from immigration officials along with several other international students. While the other students were allowed to leave, Ajjawi alleges an immigration officer continued to question him about his religion and religious practices in Lebanon.


The same officer then asked him to unlock his phone and laptop, and left to search them for roughly five hours, Ajjawi alleges. 
After the search, the officer questioned him about his friends’ social media activity.


“When I asked every time to have my phone back so I could tell them about the situation, the officer refused and told me to sit back in [my] position and not move at all,” he wrote. “After the 5 hours ended, she called me into a room , and she started screaming at me. She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list.”


Ajjawi wrote that he told the officer he had not made any political posts and that he should not be held responsible for others’ posts.


“I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I didn't like, [s]hare or comment on them and told her that I shouldn't be held responsible for what others post,” he wrote. “I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics.”


The officer then canceled Ajjawi’s visa, informed him he would be deported, and allowed him a phone call to his parents.


Though Ajjawi’s situation is rare among Harvard undergraduates, in 2017 four graduate students faced similar challenges due to a then-effective travel ban instituted by the Trump Administration. Those students eventually entered the U.S. after weeks and months in limbo, and the University warned international students not to leave the country.


University President Lawrence S. Bacow also waded into the national debate over immigration policy earlier this year. In July, he penned a letter to United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security 
Kevin K. McAleenan to share his “deep concern” about the federal government’s approach to immigration policy.


Bacow’s letter specifically cited visa challenges Harvard affiliates like Ajjawi face, in the form of both delays and denials.


Ajjawi, who has since returned home to Lebanon, wrote that he is in touch with a lawyer and hopes to resolve his visa issues so he can arrive this week before classes start next Tuesday.

[Benton]

I've read conflicting reports.

If he made social media posts critical of the us, depending on the type, I'm ok with denying the visa. If he didn't, or if they were just jokes in poor taste, then I'm not.

[CJD]

Quote:"She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list."


'“I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I didn't like, [s]hare or comment on them and told her that I shouldn't be held responsible for what others post,” he wrote. “I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics.”'

I have a friend on Facebook who has recently announced herself as transgendered and a socialist (not like Bernie or Warren. Full on Socialism).

I am still friends with her because I think she's funny and part of a gaming community that I am a part of.

I'm glad I'm a citizen and not an immigrant, I guess.

[GMDino]

(08-28-2019, 11:03 PM)Benton Wrote: I've read conflicting reports.

If he made social media posts critical of the us, depending on the type, I'm ok with denying the visa. If he didn't, or if they were just jokes in poor taste, then I'm not.

I'm not for barring anyone who makes a critical post about the US because it then falls on who is determining what is critical.

If someone posted Trump seems crazy and his decisions are bad there are plenty of current citizens who would be aghast at such an affront to the office of the President versus someone posted they want to blow up the WH where most people would say that person should be watched a little closer and not allowed in to the country.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(08-29-2019, 08:49 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I have a friend on Facebook who has recently announced herself as transgendered and a socialist (not like Bernie or Warren. Full on Socialism).

I am still friends with her because I think she's funny and part of a gaming community that I am a part of.

I'm glad I'm a citizen and not an immigrant, I guess.

(08-29-2019, 09:00 AM)GMDino Wrote: I'm not for barring anyone who makes a critical post about the US because it then falls on who is determining what is critical.

If someone posted Trump seems crazy and his decisions are bad there are plenty of current citizens who would be aghast at such an affront to the office of the President versus someone posted they want to blow up the WH where most people would say that person should be watched a little closer and not allowed in to the country.

Depends on what they posted for me, I guess. If they have friends who are full-on jihad/radicalized, I think you need to take a real close look. On the other hand, if it's the memes of Trump showing his drawings/writing in the oval office, then it's absurd.

As shitty as it might be for this kid, he's not a citizen, so the standard response should probably err on the side of caution. Not letting a kid study abroad here is a shitty situation for them. Knowing about a potential threat and ignoring is is a worse situation, though.

Would like to know more information about the situation before I really settle on one side or the other, though.

[GMDino]

(08-29-2019, 09:45 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Depends on what they posted for me, I guess. If they have friends who are full-on jihad/radicalized, I think you need to take a real close look. On the other hand, if it's the memes of Trump showing his drawings/writing in the oval office, then it's absurd.

As shitty as it might be for this kid, he's not a citizen, so the standard response should probably err on the side of caution. Not letting a kid study abroad here is a shitty situation for them. Knowing about a potential threat and ignoring is is a worse situation, though.

Would like to know more information about the situation before I really settle on one side or the other, though.

Another consideration should be that the school had to have some kind of vetting process.  I know, I know, it was more or less "can he afford it" but apparently he/his family can.  I'd agree with you that if he was just coming here and didn't have a job, wasn't going to school, etc then we need to really check him out (that's what is done anyway) but if his story holds up it will appear to be more targeted at where he comes from than anything he did.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(08-29-2019, 09:48 AM)GMDino Wrote: Another consideration should be that the school had to have some kind of vetting process.  I know, I know, it was more or less "can he afford it" but apparently he/his family can.  I'd agree with you that if he was just coming here and didn't have a job, wasn't going to school, etc then we need to really check him out (that's what is done anyway) but if his story holds up it will appear to be more targeted at where he comes from than anything he did.

I would prefer to not outsource my homeland security to Harvard's background checks. Lol... I don't think they're looking for the same kind of things, or have the same kind of resources to spot potential threats to our nation (not saying that this kid necessarily is). 

His family can't afford it, your article states he got a scholarship from AMIDEAST to study here, but that's not even my concern. Records and all that are so shitty over there, so you want to be extra sure. He is part of a people who don't have a country, but have two different governments. I highly doubt that Palestinian paperwork and record keeping is on point. Then you throw in a factor of us not knowing exactly what was said by his friends. They could be reposting US soldier decapitation videos, or they could be retweeting Trump saying covfefe, or it could be anywhere in between. It's admittedly pretty pointless to speculate one way or the other without more information.

[GMDino]

(08-29-2019, 10:08 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I would prefer to not outsource my homeland security to Harvard's background checks. Lol... I don't think they're looking for the same kind of things, or have the same kind of resources to spot potential threats to our nation (not saying that this kid necessarily is). 

His family can't afford it, your article states he got a scholarship from AMIDEAST to study here, but that's not even my concern. Records and all that are so shitty over there, so you want to be extra sure. He is part of a people who don't have a country, but have two different governments. I highly doubt that Palestinian paperwork and record keeping is on point. Then you throw in a factor of us not knowing exactly what was said by his friends. They could be reposting US soldier decapitation videos, or they could be retweeting Trump saying covfefe, or it could be anywhere in between. It's admittedly pretty pointless to speculate one way or the other without more information.

Ha!  I can agree with that.  I could see "evil doers" trying to use student visas to gain entrance.  I doubt they'd try Harvard, but I get the point.

[*Nately120*]

(08-28-2019, 11:03 PM)Benton Wrote: I've read conflicting reports.

If he made social media posts critical of the us, depending on the type, I'm ok with denying the visa. If he didn't, or if they were just jokes in poor taste, then I'm not.

It's so hard to keep up with stuff...from 2008-2016 I was told that being critical of the government was the crux of patriotism but now people are all "love it or GIT OUWWWWT!!" What changed?

[SunsetBengal]

(08-29-2019, 09:48 AM)GMDino Wrote: Another consideration should be that the school had to have some kind of vetting process.  I know, I know, it was more or less "can he afford it" but apparently he/his family can.  I'd agree with you that if he was just coming here and didn't have a job, wasn't going to school, etc then we need to really check him out (that's what is done anyway) but if his story holds up it will appear to be more targeted at where he comes from than anything he did.

I'm just flabbergasted that academia decided to possibly err on the side of caution, rather than simply allowing a potential threat to seamlessly meld into campus culture.  Kudos to Harvard.

[Benton]

(08-29-2019, 07:41 PM)Nately120 Wrote: It's so hard to keep up with stuff...from 2008-2016 I was told that being critical of the government was the crux of patriotism but now people are all "love it or GIT OUWWWWT!!" What changed?

In this case, again, it depends on the criticism.

But to answer your question: nothing. I criticize it almost daily, from the local level up. For a foreign tax-exempt student here, then... it depends on the criticism.

[*michaelsean*]

(08-29-2019, 07:41 PM)Nately120 Wrote: It's so hard to keep up with stuff...from 2008-2016 I was told that being critical of the government was the crux of patriotism but now people are all "love it or GIT OUWWWWT!!" What changed?

You were also told that from 2001-2008.  Don't you remember  screeching Hillary?  Al Gore?

[*michaelsean*]

(08-29-2019, 10:25 AM)GMDino Wrote: Ha!  I can agree with that.  I could see "evil doers" trying to use student visas to gain entrance.  I doubt they'd try Harvard, but I get the point.

I'd trust Penn and Yale.  Princeton maybe.  No way Cornell and Brown.  

[*Nately120*]

(08-30-2019, 09:14 AM)michaelsean Wrote: You were also told that from 2001-2008.  Don't you remember  screeching Hillary?  Al Gore?

Not particularly, but I'll admit that at that point I was more concerned with the USA becoming entrenched in potentially endless wars which earned Dick Cheney's cronies lots of money and gained more popularity with each soldier's death.  I've since become a bit desensitized to that stuff, so if Al Gore and Hiliary Clinton were saying I was a patriot for having that viewpoint (and doing nothing to change anything, of course) then bully to me.

[Dill]

(08-30-2019, 09:14 AM)michaelsean Wrote: You were also told that from 2001-2008.  Don't you remember  screeching Hillary?  Al Gore?

I don't remember. I was watching Fox News. 

Sean and Bill said hat criticizing the government was traitorous, supporting Al Qaeda.

If you hate America though, you have a right to criticize Bush. You should just move to another country to do it.

[Dill]

The screaming officer reminds me a bit of an incident days after 9/11.

A woman from New Hampshire or Vermont drove five hours to Boston to catch a plane, but was denied boarding by a 22 year old National Guardsman because she was flying to California to attend a conference on Ecology and environmentalism.

Apparently that destination triggered his "radical" radar. Eco-terrorism, terrorism, Al Qaeda. Better be safe than sorry.

Additional note: My wife, who is affiliated with a local college, tells me that a number of students have lost their visas in the last year.

Mostly from "those" countries.