Trévon Austin
US immigration officials turned away an international student accepted into Harvard University last week. Ismail B. Ajjawi, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Tyre, Lebanon, was deported just hours after he arrived at Boston’s Logan International Airport. According to a written statement obtained by the Harvard Crimson, immigration officers questioned him for hours and searched through his cellphone and laptop. His visa was subsequently cancelled and Ajjawi was sent back to Lebanon.
Ajjawi wrote in his statement that he spent eight hours in the airport before being refused entry into the US. He was questioned by immigration officials along with other international students. After the other students were allowed to leave, Ajjawi said he was still questioned about his religion and religious practices at home.
The officer questioning Ajjawi asked him to unlock his phone and laptop, and left to search through them for about five hours. After the officer returned, Ajjawi was called into a separate room and grilled about social media posts his friends allegedly made.
“When I asked every time to have my phone back so I could tell them about the situation, the officer refused and told me to sit back in [my] position and not move at all,” he said. “After the 5 hours ended, she 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 friends list.”
Ajjawi replied that he had not made any of the posts himself and should not be held accountable for others’ social media activity.
“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 said. “I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics.”
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