Alireza Doroudi flies back to Iran 3 months after being detained by ICE outside University of Alabama

Yahoo

2 days ago

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Alireza Doroudi, a mechanical engineering student who was a year away from finishing his doctorate degree at the University of Alabama, has left the country and gone back home to Iran, three months after immigration officers took him from his apartment in Tuscaloosa and held him in a detention facility in Louisiana.
Doroudi, 32, left the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, Louisiana over the weekend and left the United States on Sunday, his attorney confirmed to CBS 42 Monday.
Prior to the weekend, Doroudi had been held by ICE for 68 days, beginning on March 25, when several officers went to his apartment in the early morning hours to detain him on charges of living in the country on a revoked visa. From there, he was held in detention in Louisiana with 1,200 other people. Despite being labeled a national security risk by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, prosecutors never provided any evidence to back up their claims. In addition, attorney David Rozas said Doroudi's SEVIS status was still clear and he could have legally remained in the country as long as he remained a student.
On May 8, Doroudi told the immigration court that he would deport himself back to Iran, his attorneys and family later citing the physical, mental and emotional drain being in detainment had caused him over several months.
Rozas, who has defended Doroudi since his arrest, released the following statement Monday morning:
'Yesterday, June 1, 2025, Alireza Doroudi left the United States to return to Iran. His choice was made in response to a system that failed to uphold fairness, transparency, and due process.
'For weeks, Mr. Doroudi was held in detention without any substantiated evidence presented to justify the initial claims of national security concerns. Despite having no history of protest or political activity, and despite documentation indicating that his F-1 student visa remained valid until departure, Mr. Doroudi was denied bond and subjected to legal proceedings riddled with delay and contradiction.
'Following his May 8 hearing before Judge Maithe Gonzalez, Mr. Doroudi made the difficult decision to request voluntary departure. It was a heartbreaking moment. He turned and said, 'I love this country, but they don't want me here so I will go home.'
'At that hearing, even the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that the central charge of visa revocation did not apply while he remained in the United States, and indicated their intent to drop the charge altogether. Yet, the court delayed action, requiring additional filings despite repeated requests and mounting evidence in his favor.
'Mr. Doroudi's return is a warning. When individuals are detained without evidence, forced to disprove unfounded allegations, and pressured to leave a country they sought to contribute to, we must ask: What message are we sending to international students? To immigrant communities? To those who believe in the promise of American justice?
'This was not justice. This was attrition by detention. And it should never have come to this.
'As a defense lawyer, I remain committed to seeking accountability for the failures that led to this outcome, and to ensuring that what happened to Mr. Doroudi does not happen again.'
Doroudi, who is engaged and was in the middle of planning his wedding at the time of his arrest, was expected to complete his degree from UA next year. In fact, a research paper he co-wrote with different colleagues, 'A review of the effects of laser peening on creep properties,' was published in April while he was locked up.
Attempts to reach Doroudi were not successful Monday.
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