Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Iranian Cancer Researcher Detained at Boston Airport

by Reuters

   BOSTON --

   U.S. immigration officials have detained an Iranian cancer researcher
   who was headed to a prominent Boston hospital to work as a scholar,
   hospital officials said Tuesday.

   The detention late Monday of Moshen Dehnavi, along with his wife and
   three children, was 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. They noted that Dehnavi had a valid entry visa.

   "He and his family are being detained at Logan [International Airport
   and] are supposed to be sent back to Iran later today," hospital
   spokesman Rob Graham said in a statement. "Boston Children's hopes that
   this situation will be quickly resolved and Dr. Dehnavi and his family
   will be released and allowed to enter the U.S."

   Two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a revised version of
   Trump's executive order banning travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia,
   Sudan, Syria and Yemen, though the court excluded visitors with a "bona
   fide" family tie. The executive order itself did not apply to travelers
   with valid visas.

   A spokesman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement did not
   immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

   "Based on what we know, it's not travel-ban-related," 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."

   During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had called for a "complete
   and total shutdown" of Muslims entering the United States, a move he
   said was 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 thousands of people turned out to protest
   the move.