Harvard’s new student denied entry into US over social media posts by his friends

A foreign student who has just been admitted to Harvard
University has been denied entry into the United States over some
posts traced to his social media friends.

As reported by Washington Post^[1]
on Wednesday, Palestinian Ismail Ajjawi arrived at Boston Logan
International Airport on Friday night, but immigration officials
detained him for eight hours.

After interrogating the 17-year-old and searching his phone and
computer, they revoked his visa and sent him back home.

Speaking on the incident, an immigration officer said she “found
people posting political points of view that oppose the U.S.,”
though she discovered nothing Ajjawi had posted himself.

Lamenting his ordeal, Ajjawi said, “After the five hours ended,
she called me into a room, and she started screaming at me.

“She said that she found people posting political points of view
that oppose the US on my friend[s] list.

“I responded that I have no business with such posts and that I
didn’t like, share or comment on them and told her that I shouldn’t
be held responsible for what others post.”

Then Ajjawi’s visa was revoked and he returned to Lebanon.

Harvard spokesman Jonathan L. Swain told the medium in an
emailed statement: “The university is working closely with the
student’s family and appropriate authorities to resolve this
matters so that he can join his classmates in the coming days;” as
classes begin September 3.

In response, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
Michael McCarthy, said the department was “responsible for ensuring
the safety and admissibility of the goods and people entering the
United States.”

“Applicants must demonstrate they are admissible into the U.S.
by overcoming 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.

“This individual was deemed inadmissible to the United States
based on information discovered during the CBP inspection,” he
added.

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