Iranian attending college in Boston is denied entry to US | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
July 23, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2025
Iranian attending college in Boston is denied entry to US

World+Biz

UNB/AP
22 January, 2020, 09:25 am
Last modified: 22 January, 2020, 09:30 am

Related News

  • US-Japan trade deal averts worst for global economy
  • Govt moves to buy 2.2 lakh tonnes of US wheat 
  • 'A trap': Asylum seekers arrested after attending US courts
  • Bangladesh holds inter-ministerial meeting on proposed US Trade Deal
  • Monno Ceramic partners with Lenox Corporation to export in US market

Iranian attending college in Boston is denied entry to US

Since August, at least 10 students have been sent back to Iran upon arrival at US airports

UNB/AP
22 January, 2020, 09:25 am
Last modified: 22 January, 2020, 09:30 am
Photo: UNB
Photo: UNB

An Iranian student attending college in Boston was denied entry to the US and ordered to immediately fly back to his native country, despite a court order temporarily staying his removal, immigration lawyers and civil rights groups said Tuesday.

Shahab Dehghani, a 24-year-old economics student at Northeastern University, arrived in Boston with a valid student visa but was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol at Logan International Airport, according to his lawyer Kerry Doyle.

Customs officials ordered Dehghani, whose full name is listed as Mohammad Shahab Dehghani Hossein Abadi on federal court filings, to leave on the next available flight because they determined he was intending to reside in the US longer than his temporary student visa allowed, Doyle said.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Dehghani's lawyers reject that claim. They say he had attended the University of Massachusetts Boston before transferring to Northeastern, had undergone a nearly one-year visa review and planned to return to Iran when he completed his studies.

"He's understandably upset," said Heather Yountz, a lawyer also involved in Dehghani's case. "He's been a student here in Massachusetts for two years. His life has now been turned around."

Customs and Border Patrol declined to comment on specifics but said each person seeking entry to the country has the burden to prove they can overcome "all grounds of inadmissibility," including "health-related grounds, criminality, security reasons, public charge, labor certification, illegal entrants and immigration violations, documentation requirements, and miscellaneous grounds."

While he was at the airport Monday, Dehghani's attorneys filed an emergency lawsuit seeking to hold off his removal, which a federal judge quickly approved, pending a court hearing Tuesday.

But Judge Richard Stearns on Tuesday said the case was moot and out of his jurisdiction because Dehghani ended up flying out of the US that night.

Doyle confirmed Dehghani took a flight to Paris on Monday but disputed the judge's assertions.

She also challenged federal prosecutors who argued Dehghani was removed from the country before the emergency order was issued. Doyle a  rgued he was still at the airport at the time the judge issued the temporary stay , suggesting customs officials violated the order.

She said her client intends to fight the case and will weigh his legal options.

Northeastern University said it has also been in touch with federal officials to try and get Dehghani back to Boston for his classes.

"We still have not received a satisfactory explanation from Customs and Border Protection for this action," the university said late Tuesday. "Only in the most extreme instances should students have their academic pursuits interrupted by government intervention."

Doyle and other immigrant rights activists say Dehghani's case is the latest example of customs officials at Logan Airport ignoring court orders since President Donald Trump issued a ban on travellers from several predominantly Muslim countries in 2017, including Iran.

Since August, at least 10 students have been sent back to Iran upon arrival at US airports. Seven had flown into Logan, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which is also assisting Dehghani.

"We feel the Iranian community has been unfortunately targeted," Doyle said. "We're hearing many reports, especially at the Boston port of entry, of Iranian students and other individuals being subjected to increased and severe interrogation at secondary inspections."

Civil rights groups and lawmakers complained this month to federal officials after Iranian Americans said they had been questioned for hours at the Canadian border in Washington state in the days after US forces killed a top Iranian general and the Trump administration feared retaliation from Iran.

Hamed Yarmand was among more than two dozen people who rallied outside of Boston federal court Tuesday in support of Dehghani.

Yarmand, who is Iranian American, said he was one of Dehghani's professors at UMass Boston and described him as a good student who was involved in school activities.

"It's not fair," Yarmand said. "President Trump says he supports the Iranian people. But how does that work, with these sanctions and this travel ban? There seems to be a contradiction with what he says and what this administration is doing in practice."

 

Iranian / US / Boston

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • The meeting is being held at the chief adviser’s official residence Jamuna. Photo: CA Press Wing
    CA Yunus holding meeting with 13 political parties
  • NIBPS Director Dr Nasir Uddin speaks at a press briefing, 22 July, 2025. Photo: TBS
    Milestone tragedy: 8 out of 44 patients in critical condition at burn institute
  • Hasnat Abdullah. Photo: Collected
    Health adviser should resign, obvious example of CA’s nepotism: Hasnat

MOST VIEWED

  • Screengrab/Video collected from Facebook
    CCTV footage shows how Air Force jet nosedived after technical malfunction
  • Photo: Collected
    Bangladeshi man jailed for life in UK for murdering wife in front of their baby
  • Why Bangladesh's capital market is poised for a bull run
    Why Bangladesh's capital market is poised for a bull run
  • ISPR clarifies crashed plane was battle aircraft, not training jet
    ISPR clarifies crashed plane was battle aircraft, not training jet
  • Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Secretariat protest: 75 injured in police-protester clash over edu adviser's resignation for delaying HSC rescheduling
  • Exim Bank's former chairman Nazrul Islam Majumder being taken to court on 22 July 2025. Photo: Collected
    Will repay all money if granted bail, won’t run away, ex-Exim Bank chair Nazrul tells court

Related News

  • US-Japan trade deal averts worst for global economy
  • Govt moves to buy 2.2 lakh tonnes of US wheat 
  • 'A trap': Asylum seekers arrested after attending US courts
  • Bangladesh holds inter-ministerial meeting on proposed US Trade Deal
  • Monno Ceramic partners with Lenox Corporation to export in US market

Features

Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help at burn institute

1d | Panorama
Photo: TBS

Mourning turns into outrage as Milestone students seek truth and justice

19h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Uttara, Jatrabari, Savar and more: The killing fields that ran red with July martyrs’ blood

1d | Panorama
Despite all the adversities, girls from the hill districts are consistently pushing the boundaries to earn repute and make the nation proud. Photos: TBS

Ghagra: Where dreams rise from dust for Bangladesh women's football

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

80 Columbia University students punished for pro-Palestinian protest

80 Columbia University students punished for pro-Palestinian protest

1h | TBS World
Education Ministry dispute leads to delay in postponing exams

Education Ministry dispute leads to delay in postponing exams

2h | TBS Today
Trump announces massive trade deal with Japan

Trump announces massive trade deal with Japan

4h | TBS World
Six unidentified bodies are yet to be identified

Six unidentified bodies are yet to be identified

5h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net