Incoming Harvard Freshman Is Deported Over Friends’ Social Media Posts

[newsandguts.com]

When Ismail Ajjawi touched down at Boston’s Logan Airport on Friday night, he was expecting to shortly begin his career as a Harvard freshman. But hours later, after intense questioning by an immigration officer, his visa was revoked and he was deported.

From The Harvard Crimson:

U.S. officials deported Ajjawi, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday night shortly after he arrived at Boston Logan International Airport. Before canceling Ajjawi’s visa, immigration officers subjected him to hours of questioning — at one point leaving to search his phone and computer — according to a written statement by Ajjawi.

Ajjawi’s statement details how the officers spent 5 hours searching his computer and phone. They questioned the youth about his religious practices in Lebanon as well as his friends’ social media activity.

“I responded that I shouldn’t be held responsible for what others post,” he wrote. “I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics.”

Nonetheless, U.S. Customs and Border Protection deemed Ajjawi “inadmissible.” This was confirmed in a statement to CBS News.

Harvard has announced that that they are working closely with Ajjawi’s family and immigration lawyers to ensure that he could return in time for the first day of classes on September 3rd.

Twitter posts...
David Beard
✔
@dabeard
The incoming Harvard freshman met an immigration agent on arrival in Boston.
She searched his computer & said his friends had posted political things.
He said that he hadn't—not one political post on his timeline.
She canceled his visa. And deported him. [thecrimson.com] …

Shibley Telhami
@ShibleyTelhami
Awful: AMIDEAST, which places Palestinian students in US colleges shared this: Last night, a new Hope Fund scholar arrived at Logan Airport with valid visa, to be a freshman at Harvard. He grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. He was refused entry and put on next plane out.