U.S. Customs and Border Protection would not
confirm that, with spokesman Michael McCarthy
saying only that the decision to cancel Ajjawi’s
visa was based on information discovered
during an inspection. He declined to elaborate
but stressed that Ajjawi was not deported,
meaning he can still seek reentry.
Harvard is working to resolve the matter,
university spokesman Jason Newton said.
AMIDEAST, a nonprofit organization that awarded
Ajjawi a scholarship, is providing legal assistance.
Federal agents detained Ajjawi at the airport
for eight hours, searched his cellphone and
laptop, and questioned him about his friends’
social media posts, according to a written
statement Ajjawi gave to The Harvard Crimson ,
the student newspaper.
The posts included “political points of view that
oppose the U.S.,” Ajjawi wrote, not elaborating
on their content.
“I responded that I have no business with such
posts and that I didn’t like, (s)hare or comment
on them and told her that I shouldn’t be held
responsible for what others post,” he wrote
to the Crimson about his interaction with a
federal agent.
The student’s family won’t comment beyond
the statement in the Crimson, said Ajjawi’s
father, Bassel.
Searches of electronic devices and social media
searches at border points were conducted under
previous administrations, but free speech groups
complain they have been stepped up since
President Donald Trump took office in 2017.
“The chilling effects of incidents like these ripple
through communities far beyond Harvard’s
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