Palestinian Harvard freshman denied entry to US finally allowed in

After deportation of Ismail Ajjawi following 8-hour interrogation at Boston airport, authorities reissue visa

BOSTON — A Palestinian student originally denied entry to the United States just days before he was scheduled to start classes at Harvard University has been admitted to the country.

The family of Ismail Ajjawi said in a statement Monday that it appreciates the efforts of all of the people who helped him.

Ajjawi, who had been living in Lebanon, was denied entry August 23 after spending eight hours in Boston Logan International Airport. The 17-year-old freshman has said the denial had to do with politically oriented social media posts by friends.

Immigration officers immediately took Ajjawi, a Palestinian resident of Tyre, Lebanon, and several other international students, away for questioning, he wrote in a statement last week. But while the others were released and allowed into the country, he was held and an immigration officer interrogated him about his religious practices.

Officers took away his phone and laptop and examined them for five hours, after which the officer began to question him about his friends’ social media activity.

Pictured in the middle is Ismail Ajjawi, the Palestinian @Harvard freshman who was denied entry to the US. He has safely arrived on campus today! pic.twitter.com/wf4xPjfBaL

— Hamzah Raza (@raza_hamzah) September 2, 2019

Ajjawi claimed a female immigration officer “started screaming at me” and challenged him saying that she found “political points of view that oppose the US” posted by social media friends.

He responded that he hasn’t made any political posts himself and shouldn’t be held responsible for what his friends write.

“I have not a single post on my timeline discussing politics,” Ajjawi wrote in his statement.

Nonetheless, the officer canceled his visa, forcing him to return to Lebanon.

US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael McCarthy said only that the decision to cancel Ajjawi’s visa was based on information discovered during an inspection.

A nonprofit that awarded Ajjawi a scholarship said the US Embassy in Beirut reviewed his case and reissued his visa.