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An Iranian cancer researcher traveling to the US to work as a visiting scholar at Boston Childrens Hospital has been detained at Boston Logan International Airport.

An Iranian cancer researcher traveling to Massachusetts to work at Boston Childrens Hospital has been detained at Logan International Airport along with his wife and children, and will be sent back to Iran.

The detention of Dr. Mohsen Dehnavi, who holds a visiting work visa, comes two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could partially enforce an executive order banning people from six Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the United States. STAT, a science publication affiliated with The Boston Globe, first reported the detention.

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Boston Childrens said in a statement Tuesday that Dehnavi is a visiting research scholar on a J-1 visa coming to Boston Childrens with his wife and three children. He and his family are being detained at Logan [and] are supposed to be sent back to Iran later today.

US Customs and Border Protection denied that Dehnavi was stopped under Trumps executive order.

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This individual was deemed inadmissible to the US based on information discovered during the [customs] inspection for reasons unrelated to the Executive Order, the agency said in a statement.

In order to demonstrate that they are admissible, the applicant must overcome 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, the agency said.

As is customary with individuals denied entry to the US, they will depart on the next scheduled flight, the statement read.

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The hospital said it had limited information about the circumstances of Dehnavis detention. In the same statement, Childrens also held out hope that Dehnavi and his family would be allowed to stay.

Boston Childrens hopes that this situation will be quickly resolved and Dr. Dehnavi and his family will be released and allowed to enter the US, the statement said. The Hospital is committed to doing its utmost to support Dr. Dehnavi and his family.

Officials with Attorney General Maura Healeys office said they have been in touch with MassPort, the agency that runs Logan, and Boston Childrens and are learning more about Dehnavis situation.

Link:
Iranian cancer researcher detained at Logan - The Boston Globe