A federal judge today ordered that federal prosecutors tell him why Customs agents at Logan Airport decided to detain a Providence doctor with an H1-B visa, held her at the airport and then shipped her out of the country on Friday before she could even make the case to stay.
And in his order, posted in the online case docket, US District Court Judge Leo Sorokin said the federal attorneys better be ready to give him an answer by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow so he can read it before the hearing he had already set for 10 a.m. to let Dr. Rasha Alawieh's lawyers make the case why she should be able to go back to her job as a kidney transplant doctor and medical-school professor at Brown rather than simply be kicked out of the country.
Shortly after the filing of the petition [on Friday] the Court ordered that Dr. Alawieh, the subject of the petition, shall not be removed from the District of Massachusetts without forty-eight hours prior notice to the Court so that the Court could consider the issues raised in the petition. The issuance of this Order is common practice in this district as it has been for years. In a motion filed yesterday, Petitioner alleges that Customs and Border Patrol received actual notice of the Court’s Order described above and nonetheless thereafter “willfully” disobeyed the Order by sending her out of the United States. These allegations are supported by a detailed and specific timeline in an under oath affidavit filed by an attorney. The government shall respond to these serious allegations with a legal and factual response setting forth its version of events. This response is also due by 8:30 a.m. Monday March 17, 2025 so that it is available to the Court and the petitioner in advance of the hearing on Monday. In addition, the government shall preserve all of the documents bearing on Dr. Alawieh’s arrival and removal since the issuance of the visa described in the Petition including emails and text messages.
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The fascism intensifies
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 03/16/2025 - 5:31pm
And don't think for a moment that this isn't a dry run for turning ICE into a special police force that can attack anyone within 100 miles of a border - just to start.
it's already happening
By berkleealum
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 11:58am
because people cling to the illusion of order, many believe that fascism won’t truly take hold until the president issues an explicit decree—something like, “Kill all immigrants.”
in reality, the groundwork is already laid for a rogue ICE agent to act on their own, confident that a pardon will follow.
Trump to Sorokin: Make me.
By Daan
Sun, 03/16/2025 - 5:34pm
Trump admired Jackson. Both because Jackson favored slow genocide and because according to legend, Jackson said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" While there is no evidence that Jackson made that statement his image is what Trump likes.
The 2 attributes Trump likes: Elimating non-Whites and telling courts they are meaningless.
If Trump could not deport brown skin immigrants what would he do? If he followed the steps of one of his heroes we can guess the answer. And no court could stop him as long as he and his evil is protected by an army capable of eliminating anyone Trump dislikes.
Which may happen yet. Trump makes no bones about wanting to eliminate anyone who doesn't contaminate their soul with sychphancy.
Listen, I fully agree with
By NoMoreBanks
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 10:27am
Listen, I fully agree with the comparison. And the two would absolutely be best buddies in racism and nefarious deeds. And I think if there was a movie about Jackson where he was played by idk young Clint Eastwood shooting "injuns" and stuff, I'd agree with you. But Trump is functionally illiterate. I would be shocked if he actually knew who Andrew Jackson was, let alone "admires" him.
Timeline will be everything.
By Jiggles
Sun, 03/16/2025 - 5:45pm
But what is Sorokin going to be able to do? Who will enforce an order against Trump’s ICE?
Ownrt
By Ed Kat
Sun, 03/16/2025 - 8:20pm
Well Adam will you post what happens tomorrow morning ?
I expect that Boston Globe won’t
but Mass Live will beat you
let’s see
Hearing canceled
By makeshift_vicinity
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 11:12am
Sounds like the hearing has been abruptly canceled, and Customs is saying "Oopsie, we didn't get the memo"
I thought this was going to be our constitutional crisis but
By Rob O
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 11:32am
It sounds like the Court is not exactly angry with the gov't. Here's this morning's order:
District Judge Leo T. Sorokin: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered.On Friday March 14, 2025 a habeas petition was filed on behalf of Dr. Rasha Alawieh after which the Court, per standard practice, issued an Order directing that Dr. Alawieh not be removed from the district without forty-eight hours notice to the Court. This Order issued at 7:18 p.m., thereafter the Clerk’s Office transmitted the Order to the United States Attorney’s Office. The Court also scheduled a hearing on the petition for Monday March 17, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. On Sunday March 16, 2025, in response to allegations by counsel for the petitioner that the government had allegedly “willfully” disobeyed the Court’s Order, Doc. No. 10, the Court directed a response from the government due this morning. Late in the evening on March 16, 2025, the lawyers filing this allegation moved to withdraw from this case stating that “as a result of further diligence, they no longer represent[] the petitioner”. The Motion to Withdraw is ALLOWED and the related pro hac vice motions are TERMINATED AS WITHDRAWN. Petitioner’s remaining lawyer simultaneously filed a motion asking the Court continue the hearing scheduled for today noting both a change in circumstance (Dr. Alawieh is now in Lebanon) and that new lawyers requiring additional time to prepare will be appearing. Meanwhile, the government has responded to the Petition by requesting its dismissal. The government has also responded to the allegations made by withdrawn counsel that CBP disobeyed the Court’s Order. The Court appreciates the prompt response by the government. Supported by an affidavit from the CBP Watch Commander, the government explains that CBP Officers at Logan did not receive notice of the Court’s Order from their legal counsel until after Dr. Alawieh “had already departed the United States” and that “[a]t no time would CBP not take a court order seriously or fail to abide by a court’s order.” In light of all of the foregoing the Court ALLOWS the Motion to Continue, CANCELS the hearing scheduled for today, provides the government until March 24, 2025, to supplement its response to the extent it wishes regarding the factual allegations on the notice issue, and directs Petitioner to respond, by March 31, 2025, to the request by the government to dismiss the petition. (SED) (Entered: 03/17/2025)
We could just end borders
By Will LaTulippe
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 1:46pm
And avoid all that, but then governments would have one fewer tool with which to abuse people.
Wow.
By Jiggles
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 3:21pm
Petitioner’s counsel sold the judge a bill of goods on the timeline and has now peaced out of the case? Quite a 180 from Sorokin.
Would be great if the judge
By RozzieGirl
Sun, 03/16/2025 - 8:26pm
Would be great if the judge locks them up for contempt of court.
The judge and what army?
By necturus
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 6:42am
It is more likely the judge would get locked up, I think.
The Commonwealth owns the airport
By Anonymous
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 8:39am
They can have MSP arrest people under court order as they leave and keep flights from leaving with illegally detained folks.
Logan airport is state owned and operated
By Anonymous
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 1:40pm
Anything federal is a renter subject to terms and conditions.
The Governor could also close the airport to prevent a flight from taking off.
Ice doesn't seem to follow process
By hydeparkish
Sun, 03/16/2025 - 10:59pm
This is going downhill fast - even arresting criminals should be done by following a process. ICE officers are going to get attacked sooner or later and then things are going to get scary and very dangerous :(
https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/video-shows-ice-...
Agreed
By Nikkinunu1977
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 2:41am
That part!
The Gestapo never got attacked
By necturus
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 6:44am
By 1936, the Hitler regime was wildly popular. Germany was prospering as it hadn't for decades, even as the rest of the world remained mired in the Great Depression.
Trump's not Hitler, though. He's more likely to trigger a recession than to make anyone but himself and his billionaire friends "great again".
Timing is everything
By lbb
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 10:57am
Hitler's popularity depended on (among other things) promises of prosperity to come, and blaming the "November criminals" and other scapegoats for the current economic problems. Once he started a war, it was pretty clear that better times weren't gonna happen under the Third Reich...but by then it was too late.
Even after the war started
By necturus
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:18pm
Most Germans -- other than Jews, that is -- didn't feel the effects of the war at first. Poland, Norway, France were relative cakewalks for the Germans. Not until Hitler bit off more than he could possibly chew, by invading the Soviet Union in June, 1941, and then declaring war on the United States six months later, did things start to go wrong. Yet aside from the ever growing number of body bags coming home from the front, the typical resident of, say, Hamburg, didn't start to notice until the bombs began raining down from the skies in 1943.
The army had wanted to overthrow Hitler as early as 1938, when it looked like he was going to get Germany mired in a war it wasn't ready for. And then came Munich, which made him look like a genius. Again on the eve of the Polish campaign, there were plans to arrest Hitler, but Poland fell swiftly, the western allies did nothing beyond formally declaring war, and Germans partied on. Had he been right all along?
As early as 1942, the more intelligent military officers knew the war was lost, and they started making a series of attempts to assassinate Hitler, all of which failed. By July 20, 1944, the day of the final and most spectacular attempt, the British and Americans had landed in France, the Soviets had annihilated Army Group Center in Belarus, Rome had fallen, and Germany's cities were in ruins.
The history of the Third Reich is a cautionary tale for every nation. Never trust your fortune to a demagogue.
Not sure that's quite true
By lbb
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:26pm
According to "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", Hitler's "austerity measures" kicked in the second his troops marched across the borders. Cakewalk or no, the German people were only "well off" relative to the people their armies were stomping.
Brownshirts in windbreakers.
By CopleyScott17
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 1:26am
ICE is becoming the dictator's secret police force. It is only a matter of time before they're turned loose on targets unrelated to immigration.
https://youtu.be/l6yVzn9IlTU
By Don't Panic
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 2:22am
https://youtu.be/l6yVzn9IlTU?t=17
Machtergreifung
By necturus
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 6:39am
That's the process by which legitimately elected or appointed governments seize powers they're not entitled to, thus becoming dictatorships.
Zathras warn, he did, but no one listens to poor Zathras.
"Quite mad", they say. It is good that Zathras does not mind; he has even grown to like it.
Quoting Babylon 5 I see.
By Gaymer76
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 7:32am
Quoting Babylon 5 I see.
SCOTUS already ruled
By Angry Dan
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 9:54am
They declared Trump is king.
Now we're going to have to deal with the consequences as people in his administration consider themselves above the law while following his orders.
It’s Philospher* King. Try to
By Anonymous
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 10:53am
It’s Philospher* King. Try to keep up, shitlib
Yet it all could have been stopped
By necturus
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:26pm
...if Americans who valued democracy had come together to stop him getting reelected.
Democracy was on the ballot, and it lost.
"Remember, remember the fifth of November." It will go down as one of the great turning points of history, like King Harold getting hit in the eye with an arrow at Hastings. Nothing's the same any more.
I wonder...
By lbb
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 11:03am
...what kidney transplant patients, and their families, will think about this.
Previous CBP Logan case
By SevJP
Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:32pm
Adam and friends,
Do you remember a lawsuit from a couple years ago -- previously reported on here -- regarding a woman from a Caribbean nation (DR maybe?) who was repeatedly invasively searched by CBP at Logan? How was that suit ultimately disposed of?
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