Iranian cancer researcher sent home after
detained at Boston airport
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[July 12, 2017]
By Scott Malone
BOSTON (Reuters) - An Iranian cancer
researcher who had been headed to a prominent Boston hospital to work as
a scholar was sent back to his country on Tuesday, a day after U.S.
immigration officials detained him and his family, media said.
Mohsen Dehnavi, his wife and three children were put on a return flight
at about 9 p.m. after being detained late on Monday at Logan
International Airport, the Boston Globe said, citing Stephanie Malin, a
spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
The detentions were apparently unrelated to President Donald Trump's
executive order temporarily banning travelers from six majority-Muslim
countries, according to Boston Children's Hospital and immigration law
specialists, who said Dehnavi had a valid entry visa.
"Based on what we know, it's not travel-ban related. It's probably
something much more stupid than that," said Susan Church, chair of the
New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
"The rules say if you have a valid visa you have to be let in," she told
Reuters.
A spokesman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement did not
immediately respond to telephone calls and emails to seek comment.
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Two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a revised version of
Trump's ban on travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and
Yemen, though it excluded visitors with a "bona fide" family tie.
The executive order itself did not apply to travelers with valid
visas.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had called for a
"complete and total shutdown" of Muslims entering the United States,
a move he called necessary to protect national security in the wake
of attacks at home and abroad by Islamist extremists.
Opponents of the idea called it a violation of the U.S.
Constitution's protections for free expression of religion.
Trump's initial January version of the order, which also applied to
Iraq, caused a weekend of chaos at U.S. airports as travelers were
turned away upon arrival and crowds of thousands turned out to
protest against the move.
(Reporting by Scott Malone, additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien;
Editing by David Gregorio and Clarence Fernandez)
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