A Lebanese freshman student beginning classes at Harvard University next month was deported on Friday night after he was “deemed inadmissible” by US immigration officials during an inspection at Boston Logan International Airport.
Ismail Ajjawi, 17, said in a written statement obtained by the Harvard Crimson that he was subjected to hours of interrogation by US Customs and Border Protection officials who also searched through his phone and computer devices.
After several other international students questioned by CBP officials were allowed to leave the airport that night, the teen said he was instead further pressed about his religious views and practices in Lebanon.
At one point, an official allegedly began “screaming” at Ismail after finding posts online from his friends with “political points of view that oppose the US,” according to his statement obtained by the newspaper.
"I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I didn't like, share or comment on them and told her that I shouldn't be held responsible for what others post,” he wrote. “I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics.”
Harvard has since announced in a statement it was working with officials and the student’s family towards the goal of having him “join his classmates in the coming days”.
The university reportedly employs teams to resolve visa-related issues at the Harvard International Office, which has been in contact with Ismail.
The teen is also a recipient of a scholarship from Amideast, a non-profit group that has begun providing him with legal aid.
In a statement, US Customers and Border Protection spokesperson Michael McCarthy declined to specify what information led officials to deem the teenage student inadmissible to the country.
“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, labour certification, illegal entrants and immigration violations, documentation requirements, and miscellaneous grounds," he told the Harvard Crimson. "This individual was deemed inadmissible to the United States based on information discovered during the CBP inspection.”
