Iranian Student Detained Amid Trump Immigration Crackdown \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ An Iranian doctoral student at the University of Alabama was detained by ICE following the revocation of his student visa, sparking fear among international students on campus. His fiancée and others say the arrest was sudden and unexplained, with no history of wrongdoing. The case is part of a broader immigration crackdown under former President Donald Trump.
Quick Looks
- ICE arrested Iranian doctoral student Alireza Doroudi without warning.
- Doroudi’s visa was revoked in 2023 with no explanation.
- Fiancée Sama Bajgani says their lives were upended overnight.
- Students say they’ve been told to “lay low” by faculty.
- Doroudi awaits deportation hearing in a Louisiana detention facility.
- University of Alabama says it offers compliance guidance.
- ICE arrests part of broader Trump immigration crackdown.
- More than 1,000 international students have had visas revoked.
- No criminal record or political activism tied to Doroudi.
- Iranian students report stress, fear, and isolation on campus.
Deep Look
When armed ICE agents arrived at the apartment of Alireza Doroudi and Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani just before dawn—mere hours after they celebrated the Persian New Year—what followed wasn’t just the arrest of a student. It was the ignition of a wave of fear, silence, and invisibility among international students at the University of Alabama and campuses across the country.
For Doroudi, a mechanical engineering doctoral student from Shiraz, Iran, the moment was bewildering. His visa, once valid, had been revoked without explanation months earlier. He had continued studying under the guidance of the university, which told him he could remain in the U.S. if he stayed enrolled. That quiet revocation—without a warning, hearing, or reason—suddenly made him a target.
“I didn’t deserve this,” Doroudi wrote in a letter dictated from detention. “If they had just sent me a letter asking me to appear in court, I would’ve come… I stayed with their permission.”
A Visa Revoked, A Life Derailed
Doroudi is now detained in a Louisiana ICE facility, 300 miles from the campus where he built his life. He had no criminal record, no history of political activism, and no pending legal issues. His only “violation” was a visa revocation that came with no official justification. His fiancée, Bajgani, has since spoken out, saying the arrest turned their world upside down. Their experience is not an anomaly—it’s a window into the growing precarity of international students in the U.S.
The Broader Crackdown: Beyond the Border
The Doroudi case is just one of more than 1,000 incidents involving international students who have had their visas revoked in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press review of school data. While some students had attended pro-Palestinian demonstrations, others—like Doroudi—had no apparent reason for being flagged.
The Trump administration has made visa scrutiny and aggressive immigration enforcement a centerpiece of its policy. Under that umbrella, international students—once welcomed for their talent and tuition dollars—have increasingly been treated as suspects rather than scholars.
While ICE later reversed visa revocations for several other Iranian students at the University of Alabama, Doroudi remains in custody. A Louisiana immigration judge denied him bond in mid-April, citing national security concerns—despite the fact that the Department of Homeland Security provided no evidence to support that claim, according to his attorney.
“I was flabbergasted,” said attorney David Rozas, emphasizing that no facts supported the ruling.
Campus Communities Gripped by Fear
Within the University of Alabama’s sizable international student community—especially its cohort of over 100 Iranian students—Doroudi’s detention has had a chilling effect. Students report being told informally by faculty and peers to “be invisible”, to avoid police, and to curtail any public presence that could attract ICE attention.
One student, who has lived in the U.S. for five years and openly criticized Iran’s regime, says she now questions her safety in both her home country and the United States.
“All of a sudden, it feels like we’re returning back to Iran again,” she said, reflecting on how the U.S. now feels more like an authoritarian state than a sanctuary.
The annual Sizdah Bedar picnic, usually a vibrant community event, was described this year as having the somber tone of a funeral. Even a passing police car brought the celebration to a silent halt.
Who Gets to Belong?
This case raises uncomfortable but critical questions about who gets to belong in America’s academic institutions. Doroudi’s life was marked by hard work, community engagement, and academic promise. He was the very model of what the U.S. has long claimed to value in immigrants: ambition, education, and civic quietude. Yet it was not enough to protect him.
“If someone like him doesn’t get to the place he deserves, there is nothing called the American dream,” Bajgani said.
His case also exposes the structural ambiguities international students face. Visa rules are complex, opaque, and often enforced unevenly. Many students, even when compliant, are unsure of their rights or status. The emotional toll is significant: one friend of Doroudi’s said he has lost over 10 pounds due to stress since the arrest and now avoids leaving his apartment.
In one incident, after a minor car crash, he begged the other driver not to call police—he feared that any contact with law enforcement could trigger deportation.
Universities in a Bind
The University of Alabama has issued a statement saying it provides legal compliance support to international students and values their presence. But beyond this, universities across the country are grappling with their role: should they merely provide compliance, or should they actively advocate for the students whose lives are upended by unjust policy?
As institutions pride themselves on global prestige and multicultural inclusion, the lived reality of international students under intensified immigration enforcement tells another story—one marked by fear, surveillance, and marginalization.
A Message That Echoes Beyond Tuscaloosa
The impact of Doroudi’s detention reverberates well beyond Alabama. It sends a signal to international students everywhere: your presence is conditional. Your visa, even if valid today, could become a liability tomorrow. Your silence may be safer than your speech. And even your academic achievements may not be enough to secure your stay.
As Doroudi awaits a hearing that may determine his fate, the broader question lingers: What does America lose when it criminalizes scholars instead of welcoming them?
In a time when the U.S. seeks to compete globally in science, innovation, and education, its treatment of international students may be undermining the very foundation of its intellectual strength.
Iranian Student Detained Iranian Student Detained
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