WANA (Mar 29) – The lawyer of an Iranian student who has been detained by U.S. authorities emphasized that he “was not arrested for committing any crime, did not participate in any protests, and is legally present in the U.S.”

 

A few days ago, an Iranian student at the University of Alabama, who was legally residing in the U.S., was arrested at his apartment at night by immigration officers.

 

Alireza Doroudi, a 32-year-old Ph.D. student in the U.S., was detained due to the cancellation of his visa in 2023. According to his lawyer, although his visa was revoked that year, U.S. law allows him to remain in the country as long as he is a student.

 

His lawyer stated: “He was not arrested for committing any crime, did not participate in any protests, and is legally present in the U.S. He is working towards obtaining his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.”

 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying, “This individual was considered a serious threat to national security.” However, no further details about this “threat” have been disclosed. Doroudi’s lawyer also confirmed that he has not been informed of any security-related charges against his client.

U.S. immigration officers raided Doroudi’s home around 3 a.m. and arrested him. The raid was so sudden that Doroudi initially thought he was being attacked by burglars. According to an American media report, some neighbors were also awakened by the noise of the police entry and watched the student’s arrest in shock.

 

An immigration attorney, who is not involved in Doroudi’s case, told the Associated Press that in recent years, visa revocations for international students due to minor infractions, such as traffic violations, have become common. However, visa cancellation only means a ban on re-entering the U.S.; as long as a person remains a student, they are allowed to stay.

 

Doroudi’s case is the latest example of immigration-related detentions involving university students. Many of these students are currently held in rural areas of Louisiana—a region that, during Donald Trump’s first presidency, became a hub for immigrant detentions.

 

Trump’s immigration policies, since he took office in 2017, have consistently focused on mass deportations and restricting foreign entry. During his first term, he issued executive orders limiting the entry of citizens from several predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, and detained and deported thousands of undocumented immigrants, drawing widespread domestic and international criticism.

 

In his second term, Trump has returned to power with promises of large-scale deportations, focusing on foreign students, asylum seekers, and political dissidents. The use of remote detention centers in Louisiana and the invocation of security measures—such as the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to prisons in El Salvador—suggest that the new Trump administration’s immigration policies have become even more stringent and targeted compared to his first term.