Seventeen-year-old Ismail Ajjawi was denied entry to the United States last month when his flight from Lebanon landed at Boston's Logan Airport. He has since gained entry and has arrived at Harvard University, where he is an admitted student of the Class of 2023.
Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, spoke with Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to discuss Ajjawi's case.
"[Ajjawi] worked with an organization based in the Middle East, worked with Harvard University, and showed up at Logan Airport. He gets interviewed by a Customs and Border Control agent who goes through Ajjawi's phone, and says that he is a security threat, not because of what he said on social media, but because of what his friends had said," Noorani said.
"What's taken place since then is a pretty remarkable outcry, and he's starting classes today at Harvard University," he said.
Even though Ajjawi was eventually allowed entry, Noorani expressed concern about other international students.
"It's great that this individual was able to turn his case around," he said. "I fear that there are far too many individuals who are qualified and talented who we need as a country who are not this lucky and they're languishing overseas."
Ali Noorani's latest book is " There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration."
