{"id":162337,"date":"2025-03-28T19:51:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T19:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/university-of-alabama-student-detained-by-ice-as-state-department-revokes-visas\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T19:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T19:51:11","slug":"university-of-alabama-student-detained-by-ice-as-state-department-revokes-visas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=162337","title":{"rendered":"University of Alabama student detained by ICE as State Department revokes visas"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Earlier this week, Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral candidate studying mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama was reportedly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n

Doroudi, who is originally from Iran, was taken from his home at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and detained, according to the university\u2019s student newspaper, The Crimson White<\/a>. The university has since confirmed that one of its students was detained by ICE.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Alabama recently learned that a doctoral student has been detained off campus by federal immigration authorities. Federal privacy laws limit what can be shared about an individual student,\u201d the university wrote in an official statement. \u201cInternational students studying at the University are valued members of the campus community, and International Student and Scholar Services is available to assist international students who have questions. UA has and will continue to follow all immigration laws and cooperate with federal authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that it had arrested Doroudi in an official statement<\/a> provided to The Crimson White on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cICE HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) made this arrest in accordance with the State Department\u2019s revocation of Doroudi\u2019s student visa. This individual posed significant national security risk concerns,\u201d the statement read. According to The Crimson White, the DHS spokesperson did not explain what those national security risk concerns entailed.<\/p>\n

The Crimson White also confirmed on Thursday that Doroudi was currently being held at Pickens County Jail. The paper spoke with an employee at the jail who said that no charges were listed for Doroudi on jail records, but that the facility typically transfers ICE detainees to a detention facility in Louisiana.<\/p>\n

According to a message sent in a group chat of Iranian students at the university which was later obtained by The Crimson White, Doroudi entered the U.S. in January 2023 on an F-1 student visa issued by the U.S. Embassy in Oman. Apparently, Doroudi\u2019s visa was revoked six months after entering the U.S., but he was advised by the International Student and Scholar Services at the university that he could continue to stay in the country legally as long as he remained a student. At this time, the university\u2019s International Center has not shared any more information concerning Doroudi\u2019s visa.<\/p>\n

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The University of Alabama College Democrats released a statement<\/a> on Wednesday decrying Doroudi\u2019s arrest and the Trump administration\u2019s repeated targeting of non-citizen students.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fears have come to pass. Donald Trump, Tom Homan and ICE have struck a cold, vicious dagger through the heart of UA\u2019s international community,\u201d the group said. \u201cAs far as we know right now, ICE is yet to provide any justification for their actions, so we are not sure if this persecution is politically motivated, as has been seen in other universities around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alabama for Progress<\/a>, a grassroots progressive organization also posted a \u201cFree Alireza Doroudi\u201d graphic on their Instagram page on Thursday. \u201cThe issue of the extrajudicial state of ICE is no longer a distant issue. It has come to Alabama,\u201d reads the post\u2019s caption.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Students for Justice in Palestine at UA<\/a> stated that they were \u201coutraged\u201d to hear of Doroudi\u2019s detainment. They also clarified that Doroudi \u201cwas not involved, nor has he ever been involved in any organizing or protests related to our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doroudi\u2019s fiance has also created a GoFundMe<\/a> page to raise money for anticipated legal expenses. As of writing, the page has raised over $10,000 of its $12,000 goal.<\/p>\n

Doroudi\u2019s detainment is just the latest in a string of arrests made by ICE targeting international students across the U.S. \u2014 many of which appear to be in relation to student protests against the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on Gaza.<\/p>\n

Just days before Doroudi\u2019s detainment became public, Rumeysa Ozturk<\/a>, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University in Somerville, Massachussets was surrounded in the street by ICE officials before being detained. Video of Ozturk\u2019s arrest quickly went viral online, sparking outrage and calls for her release. Despite a court order mandating that Ozturk be kept in Massachussets, she is currently being held in Louisiana by ICE.<\/p>\n

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The Department of Homeland Security said that Ozturk was arrested for \u201cglorifying and supporting terrorists\u201d, claiming that the PhD student had shown support for Hamas, the Palestinian political party and militant group. Ozturk was one of four students who authored a March 2024 op-ed<\/a> in the Tufts Daily student newspaper urging the university to \u201cacknowledge the Palestinian genocide\u201d and \u201cdivest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.\u201d The article does not make any mention of Hamas.<\/p>\n

Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil<\/a> was also recently arrested by ICE in apparent relation to his activism related to Palestine. Khalil was also shipped across the country to be held in Louisiana where he faces deportation despite holding a green card. The Trump administration is also trying to deport Yunseo Chung, another Columbia student involved in pro-Palestine protests, but a judge ruled this week that she cannot be detained<\/a>. Chung is a 21-year-old permanent U.S. resident.<\/p>\n

Badar Khan Suri<\/a>, a Georgetown professor and post-doctoral student originally from India, was also detained by the Trump administration last week before a Virginia court prevented his deportation. Suri\u2019s lawyers are currently working to get him released from custody.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s actions have been lambasted by lawyers and critics as unconstitutional overreaches and blatant violations of the First Amendment\u2019s right to free speech and assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s actions are an unprecedented and unjustifiable assault on First Amendment and other rights, one that cannot stand basic legal scrutiny,\u201d reads the lawsuit filed by Yunseo Chung\u2019s lawyers to prevent her deportation.<\/p>\n

\u201cRipping someone from their home and family, stripping them of their immigration status, and detaining them solely based on political viewpoint is a clear attempt by President Trump to silence dissent,\u201d said Sophia Gregg, ACLU of Virginia Senior Immigrants\u2019 Rights Attorney, in a statement related to Badar Khan Suri\u2019s case<\/a>. \u201cThat is patently unconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently remarked that the U.S. has likely revoked the visas of over 300 international students \u201cat this point,\u201d indicating that more ICE detentions like Doroudi\u2019s are to be expected in the near future.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe do it every day, every time I find one of these lunatics,\u201d Rubio said while speaking to reporters on a visit to Guyana.<\/p>\n

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