An Iranian doctoral student at the University of Alabama has been arrested by immigration agents at his apartment in the middle of the night, waking up neighbors with the hullabaloo they caused.
Alireza Doroudi, 32, was picked up because his visa was revoked in 2023, according to both the arresting officers and the student’s friends and lawyer. David Rozas, the lawyer for Doroudi, said he didn’t know why his client’s visa was revoked but that he could stay in the United States while he remained a student, a status that immigration attorneys say is somewhat common.
. . . nerd, says fiance
“He has not been arrested for any crime, nor has he participated in any anti-government protests. He is legally present in the US, pursuing his American dream by working towards his doctorate in mechanical engineering,” Rozas said.
The Department of Homeland Security said March 28, “This individual posed significant national security concerns.” Officials declined to explain why he was considered a threat. Rozas said he has not been informed of any allegations of security issues involving Doroudi.
Carl Shusterman, a Los Angeles immigration attorney not involved in the case, said it has become “fairly common” in recent years for students to have their visas revoked, perhaps for a crime like driving under the influence. The revocation prohibits them from re-entering the country, but they may stay if they remain students.
Publicly available Alabama court records show he was cited for speeding/reckless driving in November 2023, but had no other legal entanglements.
Rozas told The Associated Press, “In the words of his fiance, he is a nerd. All he does is study and is literally trying to fulfill his dream—the American dream—of becoming a researcher and professor of mechanical engineering.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said March 27 that he has revoked the visas of more than 300 foreign students so far for involvement in pro-Palestine protests. “We do it every day,” he said. “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas. At some point, I hope we’ve run out because we’ve gotten rid of them.”
Rubio said student visas are intended for academic purposes, not activism, saying, “We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist, to tear up our university campuses.”
Trump has yet to deliver on campaign pledges of mass deportations but, while the numbers may not be so striking, his administration’s targets and methods mark a major break from his predecessors,’ including his own practices during his first term. He invoked a rarely-used wartime powers act from 1798 to send hundreds of Venezuelans to prison in El Salvador.
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) knocked on Doroudi’s door at 3 a.m. March 25. His attorney said his client thought it was a home invasion.
“All we’ve been informed is that ICE notified him at the jail and said, ’Hey, you are a citizen of Iran. Because of the long period from the time of revocation, we don’t believe that you should stay here.’ And he is like, ‘I’m in school.’ And they were like, ‘Well, show us proof that you’ve been in school, and you can show that to the court,’” Rozas said.
Neighbors who didn’t want to be identified told The Associated Press they were awoken by the knock and felt terrified as they witnessed the arrest.
