Immigration Officer ‘Started Screaming at Me’ Student Says
A 17-year old incoming Harvard University freshman was deported eight hours after arriving at Boston’s Logan International Airport following a roughly five-hour interrogation by an immigration official. According to the Harvard Crimson, Ismail B. Ajjawi had his computer and phone taken and searched by U.S. authorities who “continued to question him about his religion and religious practices in Lebanon” after other students were allowed to leave.
“When I asked every time to have my phone back so I could tell [my friends] about the situation, the officer refused and told me to sit back in [my] position and not move at all,” Ajjawi wrote. “After the 5 hours ended, [the immigration officer] 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 says he told U.S. authorities he had not made any anti-American postings, nor had he even shared or commented on the posts by his friends, and should not be held responsible for their views.
Authorities were unswayed.
His visa was canceled and he was forced to return to Tyre, Lebanon, just hours after arriving.
Making matters worse is U. S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Michael S. McCarthy, who told the Crimson that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol deemed Ajjaw “inadmissible.”
While CBP would not discuss any specific case, McCarthy offered this statement:
“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.”
Based on Ajjawi’s words, CBP appears to be allowing “miscellaneous grounds” to give them cover to boot out the Palestinian student.
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