Alireza Doroudi, a University of Alabama mechanical engineering doctoral student from Iran arrested by ICE in March, is leaving the United States voluntarily, according to his attorney.
Doroudi was being held in the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana after initially being detained in Pickens County Jail, according to ICE.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson previously told 1819 News regarding their arrest of Doroudi, “ICE HSI made this arrest in accordance with the State Department’s revocation of Doroudi’s student visa. This individual posed significant national security concerns.”
David Rozas, Doroudi’s attorney, told Birmingham’s ABC 33/40 will return to Iran after a judge granted his request to leave voluntarily.
“We are extremely disappointed by today’s developments in Mr. Doroudi’s case. Following his 3:30 pm CT Master Hearing before Judge Maithe Gonzalez in Jena, Louisiana, Mr. Doroudi made the difficult decision to ask for and was granted voluntary departure and return to Iran in order to avoid prolonged and unnecessary detention. He turned and looked at me and said 'I love this country, but they don’t want me here so I will go home.' Throughout this process, no evidence was ever presented in the record to justify the initial claims of national security concerns. The only charges brought against Mr. Doroudi were the revocation of his F-1 student visa and an allegation of ‘not being in status.’ However, the documentation submitted regarding the visa revocation made it clear that the revocation would only take effect upon his departure from the United States, not while he remained here,” Rozas said.
"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged this and indicated during the master hearing their intention to drop the charge. This acknowledges that the initial reason for arrest 45 days ago was an error. However, Judge Gonzalez required DHS to file this in writing and called for a second hearing to address the ‘not in status’ charge—despite the fact that it no longer holds weight without the F-1 revocation, because he was clearly still in status. Additionally, we had already submitted evidence multiple times, and the government had several opportunities to do the same. As such, while in court, we urged for a bond redetermination request, but the judge refused, stating the need to file it formally. In the face of this legal uncertainty and prolonged detention, Mr. Doroudi chose to leave voluntarily. This is not only a loss for him personally, but a setback for our system. When due process is delayed or denied, when charges are sustained without standing, and when individuals are forced to choose between uncertain length of detention in a country they feel no longer wants them, or leaving voluntarily, we must ask what kind of precedent we are setting not just for foreign students, but for fairness and justice in America.”
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