University of Alabama doctoral student detained by ICE amid Trump crackdown on visas
Federal immigration officials on Friday placed a University of Alabama doctoral student in a Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration moves to revoke visas for hundreds of noncitizen students across the U.S.
Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian citizen studying mechanical engineering at the public university, was detained early Tuesday morning at his home, his attorney David Rozas confirmed on Friday. University of Alabama officials hadn't previously identified the student.
Doroudi was held in an Alabama county jail, Rozas said. Earlier this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement records didn't detail where Doroudi was in custody. On Friday, ICE records showed he had been transferred to the ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana.
In a statement emailed Friday morning, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations arrested Doroudi after the State Department revoked his visa. DHS' statement said he posed significant national security concerns, but declined to clarify those concerns when asked by Paste BN.
Rozas said he was puzzled at DHS accusing Doroudi of being a security threat. Doroudi has committed no crimes, nor has he participated in anti-government protests, Rozas said. Doroudi has legal status as a doctoral student.
“If he’s not violating immigration law, I’m confused as to what’s going on,” Rozas told Paste BN.
Doroudi's detention comes as President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters in the U.S. and accused them of supporting Hamas militants, being antisemitic and posing hurdles for American foreign policy.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, deny such claims by saying the Trump administration conflates their criticism of Israel's assault on Gaza and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas.
Rubio: 'We do it every day'
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had revoked at least 300 visas, including for students. DHS did not respond to an emailed question clarifying if Doroudi was on Rubio's list.
"We do it every day," he said. "Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa."
Rubio later said most are related to pro-Palestinian protests, though a few were not. "Some are unrelated to any protests and are just having to do with potential criminal activity."
Trump's administration has also been targeting international students as it seeks to crack down on immigration, including ramping up immigration arrests and sharply restricting border crossings.
Doroudi studied mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama and specialized in metallurgical engineering, according to his LinkedIn page.
Rozas has said Doroudi had been “pursuing his American dream” at the public university. Doroudi’s expertise, his attorney said, “is exactly what we’ve argued that we want in the United States.”
Doroudi had his F-1 student visa revoked in 2023 but had active legal status as a University of Alabama student, Rozas said. Doroudi was in the process of applying for an employment-based visa for “extraordinary ability” given his engineering background, his attorney said.
On Friday, Doroudi joined at least one student protester who is held at the ICE facility in Jena.
Earlier this month, Mahmoud Khalil, 30, a Columbia University graduate student and lawful permanent resident, became the first of many arrested.
Federal agents detained Khalil in his university-owned apartment building when he was returning home with his wife, who is 8 months pregnant, after an Iftar dinner, when Muslims break fast during Ramadan. Agents said his student visa was revoked, but Khalil, a Palestinian born in Syria with Algerian citizenship, had a green card. Agents then told him that was revoked, and he's been held in ICE's Jena facility as his attorney fight for his release.
On Tuesday evening, masked agents detained Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish national on a student visa, while she was on her way to break fast during Ramadan. She is being held in a separate Louisiana ICE facility, records show, despite a federal judge's orders to keep her in Massachusetts, where Tufts is located.
Contributing: Reuters; Trevor Hughes, Fernando Cervantes Jr., Paste BN
(This story was updated with new information.)