Iranian Cancer Researcher Detained At Logan Airport To Be Deported: Customs Official

BOSTON, MA — An Iranian cancer researcher on his way to Boston Children’s Hospital to work was detained at Logan International Airport along with his wife and children, despite his possession of a work visa. Now that man, who is also a Harvard Post Doc, and his family are being deported, according to customs officials.

“This individual was deemed inadmissible to the U.S. based on information discovered during the CBP inspection for reasons unrelated to the Executive Order,” Customs and Boarder Protection Spokeswoman Stephanie Malin said in a statement to Patch. “As is customary with individuals denied entry to the U.S., they will depart on the next scheduled flight."

Earlier a representative at the hospital where he was scheduled to work, explained what they believed was the visa situation.

“Dr. [Mohsen] Dehnavi is a visiting research scholar on a J-1 visa coming to Boston Children’s with his wife and three children. He and his family are being detained at Logan are supposed to be sent back to Iran later today," said Rob Graham Children's Hospital spokesperson in an email to Patch.

Graham said Boston Children’s has limited information about the actual circumstances of the detention.

But the Washington Post reported Dehnavi and his family, including a baby, were being deported after spending 24-hours in the airport.

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Malin said her agency was charged with determining admissibility of aliens at ports of entry, under U.S. immigration law and noted that it was incumbent upon the Dehnavi to prove he was eligible to enter the US.

"Applicants for admission bear the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter the United States," she said in the statement. "In order to demonstrate that they are admissible, the applicant must overcome 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."

But she would not say specifically why Dehnavi was being deported.

Earlier, Children's Hospital said they were working to support him and his family.

"Boston Children’s hopes that this situation will be quickly resolved and Dr. Dehnavi and his family will be released and allowed to enter the US. The Hospital is committed to doing its utmost to support Dr. Dehnavi and his family," he said.

Dehnavi's apparent detainment and potential deportation comes just weeks after the US Supreme Court ruled that the current administration could enforce an executive order that would effectively ban those from Muslim-majority countries from entering the states. But the court also ruled it shouldn't apply to those who already held visitor visas. And Dehnavi appeared to have a valid visa, reported the Boston Globe's STAT.

The ACLU said it was at the ready if this or any detaining was deemed a violation of the Supreme Court ruling, but stopped short of calling this incident such a violation.

"We are aware of an Iranian family’s detention at Logan Airport and coordinating with immigration attorneys and advocates to assist the family," said Aaron Wolfson, a spokesperson. "We stand ready to respond to any reports that CBP is violating the Supreme Court order."

When pressed whether they were calling this a violation of the ruling, the ACLU said it didn't have all the info just yet.

This morning president of the National Iranian American Council, an organization based in Washington, Trita Parsi tweeted out that the researcher was about to be sent back to Iran.

Parsi told the Washington Post that he'd heard there was a documentation issue, but if that were the case, then he shouldn’t have been allowed to board the airplane in the first place.

Parsi told the post it was Mohammad Rashidian who reached out to him with the news about Dehnavi:

Over Twitter, the ACLU was quick to condemn the detainment and offered support for anyone who might be in a similar spot.

Neither Parsi nor Rashidian responded immediately to request for comment. We will update when they do.

Read the STAT article on the situation here: Cancer researcher is detained

Read the Washington Post article here: Deported.

Image of Logan Airport Terminal E via Google Maps Screen Shot